COVID-19 economic relief bill Communications & Media Article

COVID-19 economic relief bill
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COVID-19 economic relief bill
The coronavirus pandemic has affected people across the globe in many different ways. In the US there over 14 million people who lost their jobs and were left relying on government relief fund to sustain their lives. Recently, the two houses of parliament passed a legislation to give $600 on a weekly basis to cushion the unemployed from the harsh economic effects. However, the president is yet to sign the bill into law and is instead asking the two houses to increase the amount to $2000. Given the bad economic times, should the president wait for the two houses to increase the amount or should he just sign the bill into law with the current amount provided? Should he not sign it, how will the unemployed survive in the meantime? It’s this quagmire that has motivated me to focus on this topic, which is one of the latest news in America and also of great importance to the economy and many livelihoods across the US. In the feature story, I interviewed two families that were affected by the crisis and also an economic policy expert.
News Story
Coronavirus benefits in limbo as President Trump refuses to sign economic relief bill
Millions of unemployed Americans who have been relying on the government’s relief program will now have to find another alternative after President Donald Trump refused to sign the COVID-19 economic relief bill into law.
The president refused to sign the $900 billion aid package and instead insisted on having extra checks being passed by the lawmakers before he can sign the document.
During negotiations with both houses, President Trump who was represented by officials from the Treasury was pushing to have the money raised from $600 to $2000.
Although he was not in the negotiations, the president later posted on his Twitter handle indicating the $600 that had been passed by the legislators was too little.
“I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill,” said Trump on a Saturday Twitter post.
Should the president fail to ascent to the $2.3 trillion expenditure package, which includes the $900 billion relief, the government may end up being shut down on Monday 28.
It will also affect businesses and families that have been relying on the relief program after they lost their jobs following the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed 330,000 Americans.
Further, the delay in the president’s ascent to the bill has also left state relief agencies in limbo as they were waiting for the bill to be passed for guidance on how to allocate the money.
A provision in the bill extended a $300 weekly unemployment benefit, which is expected to run up to the end of mid March, a period of 11 weeks.
However, with the current uncertainty in delaying to sign the bill into law, the relief may not run for 11 weeks as intended.
Earlier on, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had indicated that the money would be released to the public as from early next week, a timeline that is also now in jeopardy.
Many beneficiaries of the relief fund are more worried that the money could be cut abruptly leaving them more devastated at a time when t...