Senate Lawmakers Unveil Coronavirus Relief Measure

On July 27, 2020, Republican lawmakers in the Senate unveiled a $1 trillion stimulus package to address the impacts of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Health, Economic Assistance, Liability, and Schools Act or HEALS Act includes $105 billion in education funding; a “liability shield” to protect businesses, universities, schools, and hospitals from coronavirus-related lawsuits; another round of direct stimulus payments to American households; additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program and emergency business loans; and a two-thirds reduction in emergency federal supplemental unemployment payments. The bill does not include any aid for state and local governments, but it allows for more flexibility in how states allocate funds. Of the $105 billion proposed for education funding, $70 billion would be targeted to K-12 schools. Two-thirds of that funding is intended to help schools reopen for in-person teaching. Schools would need to meet certain “minimum opening requirements” established by their states to receive those funds. President Trump previously threatened to withdraw federal funding from schools that don’t reopen. Additionally, $29 billion would be directed to higher education institutions and $5 billion to governors to allocate to either higher education or K-12 schools. The Heroes Act - the $3 trillion relief package passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in May - included $8.4 billion for higher education instituti...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news