Senate Agrees to Stimulus Package, Details Not Complete

According to reports from multiple news outlets, sometime before 10 p.m. PDT, 1 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, the Senate Democrats, Republicans and the White House agreed in principle to a $2 trillion stimulus package to help the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the full details of the package apparently haven’t been completely written yet, some details have come out, including  anyone whose recent wages (it’s unclear if it’s still based on 2018 tax returns) are $75,000 or less will receive a one-time check of $1,200. Previous editions paid less (or nothing) if you also had extremely low annual income.

Other details include $100 billion for hospitals, $150 billion for governments at the state and local level, and $367 billion in loans for small businesses. The $500 billion for large corporations, one of the major contentions of the Democrats, is still on the bill and will be administered by the Federal Reserve.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R, Ky) announced the deal at 1:30 a.m. EDT, saying the Senate would officially pass the bill when the wording was completed.

Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (NY) called the stimulus package “far from perfect” but considered it a vast improvement over the versions Democrats fought against over the last five days.

Final wording for the bill is expected to be worked out through the night and presented to the House as soon as possible. When asked, Trump said he would sign the bill if it makes it do his desk unaltered.