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The US Congress has passed a $US892 billion ($1.179 trillion) coronavirus aid package aimed at throwing a lifeline to the nation's pandemic-battered economy.
Key points:
- The bill is likely to be the final major piece of legislation for the 116th Congress that expires on January 3
- It has a net cost of roughly $350 billion for coronavirus relief
- The stimulus package is the first congressionally approved aid since April
Another bipartisan vote also passed a $US1.4 trillion measure that will keep the US Government funded for another year.
The relief bill includes $US600 payments to most Americans as well as additional payments to the millions of people now out of work because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A larger, previous round of benefits is due to expire on Saturday.
It now heads to President Donald Trump to sign into law.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, urged members of Parliament to support the virus relief bill even as she complained it did not include direct aid for state and local governments her party had sought.
She said they would try for it again next year after Democratic President-elect Joe Biden had taken office.
The bill, she said, "doesn't go all the way but it takes us down the path".
Republican representative Hal Rogers, who supported the package, said "it reflects a fair compromise".
At 5,593 pages, the wide-ranging bill is likely to be the final major piece of legislation for the 116th Congress that expires on January 3.
It has a net cost of roughly $US350 billion for coronavirus relief, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, adding that more than $US500 billion in funding comes from unspent money Congress had authorised.
Vaccines, schools, airlines targeted in package
The stimulus package, the first congressionally approved aid since April, comes as the pandemic accelerates in the United States.
More than 317,000 Americans have died.
The legislation also expands a small-business lending program by about $US284 billion and steers money to schools, airlines, transit systems and vaccine distribution.
The small-business loan and grant program, known as the Paycheck Protection Program, would exclude publicly traded companies from eligibility.
Amid reports the Trump Organization received past aid, the bill contains disclosure requirements for the President, Vice President, heads of Cabinet departments, politicians and spouses and prohibits those individuals from receiving loans in the future.
State and local governments, which are struggling to pay for the distribution of newly approved COVID-19 vaccines, would receive $US8.75 billion from Washington, with $US300 million of that targeted at vaccinations in minority and high-risk populations.
Second-largest stimulus package in US history
The deal, worked out in a rare weekend session of Congress, omits the thorniest sticking points, which included Republicans' desire for a liability shield to protect businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits as well as Democrats' request for a large outlay of money for cash-strapped state and local governments.
Mr McConnell pledged to renew his drive for the protections against corporate lawsuits in whatever coronavirus aid bill the incoming Biden administration pursued in early 2021.
The measure is far less than the $US3 trillion called for in a bill that passed the Democratic-controlled House in May, which the Republican-controlled Senate ignored.
Mr Biden has urged Congress to consider further stimulus for him to sign into law when he takes office on January 20.
The bill would be the second-largest stimulus package in US history, behind the roughly $US2 trillion aid bill passed in March.
Experts said that money played a critical role as social distancing measures shuttered wide swathes of the economy.
Reuters