A last-minute push to include another round of $1,200 payments to Americans failed. Here’s what’s being considered instead.
Rather, the proposed deal focuses on unemployment benefits, aid for small businesses and other targeted assistance rather than direct payments to all Americans — despite a last-minute push by progressive members of Congress, as well as Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, in support of another round of $1,200 payments.
A White House proposal put forward late Tuesday by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin included $600 direct payments, but at the expense of an additional $300 a week in unemployment benefits. Lawmakers on both sides view those benefits as essential and have said dropping them in exchange for direct payments is a non-starter.
Unemployment benefits
The jobless would receive $300 a week for 16 weeks — from the end of December into April, under the deal. The amount is half of the earlier federal boost, which ran out at the end of July.
The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program expands jobless benefits to gig workers, freelancers, independent contractors, the self-employed and certain people affected by the coronavirus. The Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program provides an additional 13 weeks of payments to those who exhaust their regular state benefits.
Small business loans
Health care, vaccines
The agreement also provides $6 billion for vaccine development and distribution. Some of the money would go to states and localities and some would go to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. States would get another $7 billion for coronavirus testing and tracing.
Extend student loan payment pause
Funding for schools
It also carves out $6.25 billion for broadband development and $3 billion to help schools provide hotspots and devices for students who might not have internet at home for virtual learning.
An additional $10 billion is included to support child care providers that have struggled because of the pandemic.
Rental assistance
Nutrition assistance
The agreement would boost individual food stamp benefits by 15% for four months — a measure that Democrats have advocated for since the pandemic began but never made it into prior relief packages.
It would also expand the Pandemic-EBT program to families with children in child care. It now provides money to low-income families with school-age children in lieu of the free and reduced-price meals they would have received in school.
The deal also would provide more funding for food banks and food pantries through The Emergency Food Assistance Program. And it would offer more nutrition assistance for senior citizens, young adults living in emergency shelters, Puerto Rico and certain other territories and those in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program.
Aid for airlines
The bill would extend the Payroll Support Program, which provides loans to airlines to support the pay and benefits of workers, through March 31. It would also provide additional funding for airports, bus companies, public transit systems and Amtrak.
State and local aid
The agreement calls for providing $160 billion to state, local and tribal governments as the basis for good faith negotiations.
This piece of the proposal has been among the most contentious, with Democrats calling for far more assistance to states struggling with lower tax revenues due to the pandemic. But Republicans have resisted providing additional aid beyond the $150 billion in its March relief bill, which could only be used for coronavirus-related expenses. GOP lawmakers have said they don’t want to bail out states that have mismanaged their finances.
The National Governors Association, which had been pressing for $500 billion in state aid, last week said that it supported the bipartisan framework as an interim measure.
US Postal Service aid
The deal calls for modifying the CARES Act to specify that the Treasury Department will provide the United States Postal Service with $10 billion without requiring repayment. Democrats had wanted to give the postal service additional aid.
CNN’s Lauren Fox contributed to this report.
![]()

