Agreement Reached on Coronavirus Stimulus Package - Rhode Island Native Was Holding up the Deal
Sunday, December 20, 2020
Congress is expected to vote on a $900 billion coronavirus relief package, after a last-minute roadblock in the Senate.
The hold-up? Former Rhode Islander and La Salle Academy graduate, U. S. Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Congressional leaders had settled on a framework midweek that was expected to include a $300 federal unemployment bonus, a new round of direct payments, small business funding and money to distribute COVID-19 vaccines.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“A last-minute roadblock emerged on Friday as Democrats accused Republicans, namely Pennsylvania’s Sen. Pat Toomey, of attempting to encumber the incoming Biden administration by cutting off the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending abilities created by the CARES Act meant to protect the already battered economy,” reported CNBC.
{imagr_2}“Now that Democrats have agreed to a version of Sen. Toomey’s important language, we can begin closing out the rest of the package to deliver much-needed relief to families, workers, and businesses,” a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told NBC News.
A spokesperson for Toomey called the agreement an “unqualified victory for taxpayers.”
"Senate Republicans achieved all four of our objectives regarding the CARES Act Federal Reserve lending programs,” Toomey spokesperson Steve Kelly said.
“This agreement rescinds more than $429 billion in unused CARES Act funds; definitively ends the CARES Act lending facilities by Dec. 31, 2020, stops these facilities from being restarted, and forbids them from being duplicated without congressional approval. This agreement will preserve Fed independence and prevent Democrats from hijacking these programs for political and social policy purposes,” Kelly added.
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