Congressional leaders and the White House have agreed on a deal to provide additional federal funds to small businesses suffering from the financial fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
Schumer said a few final details remain to be worked out, but he expects his chamber to vote later today.
Over the weekend, Democrats and Republicans were negotiating a deal that would allocate $310 billion more into the Paycheck Protection Program, which quickly ran out of the $349 billion allocated to it as part of the $2.3 trillion coronavirus stimulus package.
Of that $310 billion, $60 billion is earmarked for rural and minority groups, and another approximately $60 billion would go to the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, which provides up to $10,000 loans for small businesses administered by the Small Business Association.
In addition, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, the deal could include $75 billion in additional funding for hospitals and $25 billion for testing, which governors and public health experts say is key to a safe and effective re-opening of the economy.
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