The Senate passed a $484 billion interim coronavirus funding bill via voice vote on Tuesday after more than a week of intense negotiations between the Trump administration and Congress.
The agreement will replenish the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the stimulus bill's emergency loan program for small businesses, and provide billions for hospitals and expanded coronavirus testing.
The Senate passed the bill during a 4 p.m. pro forma session, 12 days after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was blocked from passing his original $250 billion PPP bill by Democrats who were seeking extra money for state governments and hospitals.
The vast majority of the funds — $322 billion — is for replenishing the PPP, which dried up last week. Roughly $60 billion of that total will be allocated to small lenders and community banks. The rest includes
One of the biggest issues that the PPP faced in the rollout of the program was that small businesses in underserved communities struggled to compete with bigger businesses that had existing relationships with banks.
This bill has carve-outs so that community businesses and lenders don’t have to fight bigger businesses and banks for the same funding, a provision that Democrats fought hard for.
The deal does not include the $150 billion in aid for state and local governments that Democrats were seeking.
But Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told CNN that the White House agreed to use leftover funding to replenish state and local revenues.
Source: Axios.com | Article: Senate Passes $484 Billion Interim Coronavirus Funding Bill | Author: Alayna Treene
