Second Stimulus Package Deal Reached Including $600 Checks

$600 is on the way to most Americans. On Sunday, Republican and Democratic congressional leaders reached a deal on a $900 billion relief package.

“We can finally report what our nation has needed to hear for a very long time: More help is on the way,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced on the Senate floor.

Watch: Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, announces the stimulus package that would provide $600 payments to Americans — half of what the government sent many Americans in April https://t.co/CNdTeAKIdi pic.twitter.com/Zd8qhG1yFI
— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 20, 2020

That $600 stimulus check is half of what was originally issued to citizens at the top of the pandemic. In response, many have noted the money as not beneficial while news outlets highlight that the money does not equate to rent in a majority of the nation.

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The new deal will be the second-largest federal stimulus package after the $2 trillion CARES Act that passed through Congress in March. Pieces of the CARES Act are currently set to expire, which include jobless assistance measures and eviction protection, CNN reports.

With a strapped economy in the middle of both the holiday season and the pandemic, the checks won’t be available to Americans until 2021. Eligible families would receive an additional $600 per child. The bill will also extend the Paycheck Protection Program and unemployment benefits for 11 weeks, running through-Mid March.