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Senate CARES Act 2.0 Includes More Stimulus Checks, Unemployment Benefits

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The American Workers, Families and Employers Assistance Act introduced by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is a piece of the overall stimulus package. Here’s what Sen. Grassley’s proposal provides:
In March of 2020, the Senate passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or the CARES Act. It was bigger than the original Senate proposal but smaller than the subsequent House proposal. Eventually, the two reconciled and the CARES Act became law.
In May of 2020, the House introduced a new COVID-19 economic relief proposal. The bill, known as the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, or HEROES Act, was not taken up by the Senate. At the time, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) suggested that the timing was not right for another bill. But with just a few days to go before federal unemployment benefits run out, that appears to have changed.
You might be looking for the “HEALS Act” (Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection, and Schools Act) being put together under Sen. McConnell’s watch. So far, there is no single bill, but rather a series of proposals. Various committee chairs have drafted their proposals and introduced them separately on the Senate floor.
This article focuses on the American Workers, Families and Employers Assistance Act introduced by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) targeting well, workers, families and employers assistance. It’s a much smaller proposal than the full CARES Act (and the HEROES Act), weighing in at just 168 pages – but remember, it’s just a piece of the overall package. A supplemental proposal, led by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), tackles the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and business tax incentives (I’ll have more on that separately).
Here’s what Sen. Grassley’s proposal provides:
Unemployment Benefits. The $600/week surplus for unemployment is slated to end on July 31,2020, under the CARES Act. The House HEROES Act would extend it through January 31,2021, and expand other unemployment-related benefits. The Senate proposal would continue payments up through October 5,2020, but at a reduced rate of $200/week. However, beginning in October, under the Senate bill, the payments would increase so that, when combined with the state unemployment payment, it would represent 70% of lost wages. If an individual state cannot bring the total to 70%, the state can suggest an alternative and get a waiver from the Secretary of Labor. Also, beginning in October, the additional payment would be considered income for determining eligibility for other benefits.
State Funding. The proposal would provide funding to reimburse states for 80% of their increased costs of providing cash assistance and other short-term help through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, up to a cap of $2 billion.

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