By Andy Sullivan, Richard Cowan
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WASHINGTON, Dec 21 (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives approved a $ 892 billion coronavirus aid package on Monday to spur the nation’s economy from damage from the pandemic, clearing the way. for his passage through the Senate.
In another vote, the House approved the spending of 1.4 trillion dollars that will keep the United States government funded for another year, which will also go to the Senate for consideration.
The relief package, which will become law if approved by the Senate and signed into law by President Donald Trump, includes payments of $ 600 for most Americans, as well as additional payments for people who were unemployed during the pandemic. of COVID-19, just as a major round of benefits will expire on Saturday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged lawmakers to support the relief bill but complained that it did not include the direct aid to state and local governments that Democrats had requested. He said they would try again next year after President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
Earlier, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters on Capitol Hill that passage of the legislation in the Senate “will probably be late, but we are going to finish tonight.”
The project, which will also allow a spending of 1.4 trillion dollars that will finance the activity of the US Government until September 2021, will surely be the last great law of the current Congress before the renewal of January 3.
It has a net cost of about $ 350 billion for coronavirus relief, McConnell said, adding that more than $ 500 billion in funding comes from unspent money that Congress had authorized.
The stimulus package, the first aid approved by Congress since the first months of the year, comes at a time when the pandemic is accelerating in the United States, infecting more than 214,000 people a day and slowing the economic recovery. More than 317,000 Americans have died to date.
The legislation also expands a small business loan program by roughly $ 284 billion and directs the money to schools, airlines and vaccine distribution, among others.
The small business loan and grant program would exclude publicly traded companies from eligibility.
HELP LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND INDIVIDUALS
State and local governments, struggling to pay for the distribution of newly approved COVID-19 vaccines, would receive $ 8.75 billion from Washington, of which $ 300 million will go toward vaccinations in high-risk and minority populations.
More than $ 22 billion would be spent on expanded testing, contact tracing and other activities to control the coronavirus, with nearly $ 20 billion in funding to help manufacture and purchase vaccines and related therapies and supplies.
For those struggling to pay rent due to widespread layoffs from the pandemic, a moratorium on evictions will be extended until January and $ 25 billion will be made available to struggling families, according to a summary of the legislation.
The pact, finalized in a rare weekend session in Congress, omits the thorniest issues, such as Republicans’ desire for an liability shield that protects businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits and the Democratic request for more. funding for cash-strapped state and local governments.
A last-minute dispute over emergency loan programs run by the Federal Reserve was also resolved late Saturday.
The measure is well below the 3 trillion dollars requested in the bill that passed the House of Representatives – under Democratic control – in May, and that was ignored by the Senate, in Republican hands.
The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, opened the debate on the agreed version predicting a quick approval on Monday and calling it “a good bipartisan project.”
Still, he charged Republicans for blocking a larger injection of federal funding for state and local governments whose revenues have declined during the pandemic, even as they face unusual demands on their public health workers and their healthcare services. emergency.
“It’s a big mistake,” Pelosi said, adding that “how come we only have $ 160 billion for state and local (governments) but we’re getting closer to $ 1 trillion” for a small business loan and grant program, including money earmarked earlier in the year to the Wage Protection Program.
Biden urged Congress to consider more stimulus to sign it into law when he takes office on January 20. “My message to all who are struggling at this time is that help is on the way,” he said in a statement.
Additional reporting by Susan Heavey and David Brunnstrom; edited in Spanish by Carlos Serrano and Javier Leira
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