The United States Senate voted literally after the 11th hour late on Monday night Dec. 21, approving a $900 billion COVID-19 stimulus bill; only the second financial package approved since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The mammoth package of emergency economic relief, government funding and tax cuts, is one of the largest pieces of legislation ever approved by Congress. See this Dec. 21 Ark Valley Voice story on what it contains.
The first CARES Act was passed in April. This new package is only a third of the relief that Democrats wanted, but more than what Republicans initially said was necessary.
There were intense negotiations over the past two weeks over this package; in its introductory form on Monday, it ran to 5,593-pages in length. The vote wasn’t close, perhaps reflecting the growing unease felt by lawmakers after the recent spikes in coronavirus cases and deaths. There are signs the nation’s economy is weakening,
It passed the Senate easily; the vote was 92-to-6; finalized at 11:42 p.m., about two hours after the House easily passed it. It now goes to President Donald Trump for signature.
Sadly, nine months after this heartbreaking pandemic upended the U.S. economy, the government is still struggling to present a strategy to contain the virus, or stop the economy bleeding. The heartbreak, fear and tragedy has impacted literally every household and business in every U.S. state. The question is — when will we turn the corner and will this new stimulus be enough?
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