Covid help in the USA: this is when you will see help from the federal government

Here’s what you can expect to see and when.

Stimulus checks

Lawmakers agreed last month to send $ 600 stimulus checks to individuals who earn less than $ 75,000 a year and double that for couples who earn less than $ 150,000 a year. They are also receiving $ 600 per child under the age of 17. Payments are eliminated for people who earn more money.

More than 100 million Americans have received direct deposit payments by January 8, according to the latest data from the Internal Revenue Service. Payments started to flow on December 29 and were scheduled to continue to be sent until January 15. Eligible individuals who do not receive the money automatically will have to claim it in the 2020 income tax return, according to the agency.

The president also wants to help those who never received the original $ 1,200 checks that Congress approved last spring. He signed an executive order on Friday that instructs the Treasury Department to consider taking a series of actions to reach the 8 million people who may miss their stimulus payments because they normally do not pay taxes.

Meanwhile, Biden wants to send Americans an additional $ 1,400, for a total of $ 2,000, as part of his huge aid package. The new payments would also go to adult dependents who have been left out of previous rounds, such as some children over 17.

However, it will be a while before anyone sees these funds – if they will ever see them. The plan must first pass through Congress, where the opposition is already forming.

Unemployment benefits

The dismissed workers will receive weekly increases of $ 300 in their unemployment insurance payments until mid-March, thanks to the December package from Congress.

The agreement also extended two key unemployment pandemic programs – offering an additional 11 weeks of payments to freelancers, independent contractors, self-employed workers and certain people affected by the pandemic, as well as to those who have exhausted their regular state benefits.

Many states have already implemented these provisions, although some continue to schedule changes to their systems. Those who exhausted their benefits before the end of December usually have to wait longer to get paid again.

As part of his relief proposal, Biden wants to increase federal funding to $ 400 a week and extend it along with pandemic programs through September.

Housing assistance

Congress extended eviction protection until the end of this month and provided $ 25 billion in rental assistance to individuals who lost their sources of income during the pandemic.

The president acted on his first day in office to help struggling landlords and tenants. He signed an executive order requiring several federal departments and agencies to extend their ban on evictions and foreclosures to people affected by the coronavirus until at least the end of March.

Biden’s relief proposal calls for an additional $ 25 billion in rental assistance for low- and moderate-income families. Another $ 5 billion would be earmarked to help struggling tenants pay their utility bills. Biden is also asking for $ 5 billion to help states and localities assist people at risk of homelessness.

The plan would extend the federal eviction moratorium until September 30, as well as allow people with federally guaranteed mortgages to request tolerance until that date.

Nutrition assistant

The December deal increased SNAP benefits by 15% for six months, but did not expand eligibility for food stamps.

It also expanded the Pandemia-EBT program to families with children under the age of 6 who receive food stamps, considering them “enrolled” in daycare centers and eligible for benefits. The program provides money for low-income families instead of the free, reduced-price meals that children would have received at school.

The package sent $ 400 million to food banks and food pantries through the Emergency Food Assistance Program. And it provided $ 175 million for nutrition services for the elderly, such as Meals on Wheels, and $ 13 million for the Commodity Supplementary Food Program, which serves more than 700,000 elderly Americans monthly.

As part of his $ 1.9 trillion plan, Biden would extend the 15% increase in food stamp benefits until September, instead of expiring in June. He would invest an additional $ 3 billion to help women, babies and children secure food and give US territories $ 1 billion in nutritional assistance. And he would partner with restaurants to provide food for needy Americans and jobs for fired restaurant employees.

Biden took steps to reinforce nutritional assistance in his first week in office. He signed an executive order on Friday asking the Department of Agriculture to consider increasing the benefits of Pandemic-EBT by 15%, which would give a family with three children more than $ 100 in additional support every two months.

In addition, the order instructs the department to allow states to increase food stamp benefits to about 12 million Americans who have not benefited from a previous increase in emergency appropriations included in Congressional aid packages. The order would increase benefits for a family of four by 15% to 20% per month.

Paid emergency leave

The Congressional package did not extend the paid sick leave and family benefits that lawmakers approved in March.

Biden’s relief proposal would reinstate that provision, which expired at the end of last year, until September 30. In addition, it would increase benefits for workers excluded from the original program, including those employed in companies with more than 500 employees and fewer than 50, as well as federal employees who did not qualify.

In addition, he is calling people who are sick or quarantined, or looking after children whose schools are closed, to receive 14 weeks paid leave. The government would reimburse employers with fewer than 500 workers for the full cost of the leave.

Enhanced tax credits

As part of his $ 1.9 trillion plan, Biden would increase the child tax credit to $ 3,600 for children under 6 and $ 3,000 for children between 6 and 17 for a year. The credit could be paid monthly and would be fully refundable.

Democratic lawmakers have already started to draft legislation on this measure.

The president also proposes to increase the maximum income tax credit earned for one year to almost US $ 1,500 for adults without children, increasing the credit income limit to around US $ 21,000 and expanding the age range of eligibility to cover older workers. old.

And he calls for the expansion of the tax credit for daycare centers for a year, so that families receive back up to half of their spending on daycare centers for children under 13.

Student loans

One of the executive orders that Biden signed on his first day ordered the Department of Education to extend the suspension of federal student loan payments and interest. Borrowers will not have to make payments until October 1, at the very least, extending the already unprecedented break in payments by eight months.

Financing for small businesses

In December, Congress reopened the Paycheck Protection Program so that some of the most affected small businesses could apply for a second loan.

The government restarted loan approval on January 11 and made 60,000 during the first week, when it provided exclusive access to small creditors in underserved communities who had trouble accessing the program last year.

Second loans are limited to those with less than 300 employees who saw a drop of at least 25% of their income during the first, second or third quarter of 2020. The amount a borrower can receive is reduced from $ 10 million to $ 2 million , but companies have more flexibility on how they can spend the money. Lawmakers have also simplified the forgiveness process for loans below $ 150,000.

Congress raised $ 12 billion for minority-owned companies and expanded eligibility to more nonprofits, as well as local newspapers, TV and radio stations.

The Biden package would provide $ 15 billion to create a new subsidy program for small business owners, separate from the Payment Check Protection Program.

He also proposes to invest $ 35 billion in some state, local, tribal and nonprofit financing programs that make low-interest loans and provide venture capital to entrepreneurs.

$ 15 minimum hourly wage

Among the most controversial measures in Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion plan is his call to raise the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour and end the included minimum wage and sub-minimum for people with disabilities.

He has already started laying the groundwork for this in the federal government. His executive order on Friday sets the stage for requiring contractors to pay a minimum wage of $ 15 an hour and provide paid emergency leave at the end of their first 100 days. It also guides agencies to determine which federal employees are earning less than the minimum and to develop recommendations to promote them to reach $ 15 an hour.

Currently, the national minimum wage is $ 7.25 an hour.

CNN’s Katie Lobosco and Anna Bahney contributed to this story.

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