Congress approves new stimulus plan that includes checks for many Americans
LA TimesCongress on Monday approved a spending bill providing a new round of economic stimulus to millions of Americans struggling during the coronavirus pandemic, in a massive piece of legislation stuffed with a buffet of unrelated provisions that include halting so-called “surprise medical billing” and creating new Smithsonian museums dedicated to Latinos and women. The bill gives them a fighting chance.” Workers in the gig economy and the entertainment industry who earned most, but not all, of their income from 1099 independent contracting qualified for very little of the unemployment benefits — and thus, none of the $600 additional unemployment payments — that Congress issued in March. The Democratic-controlled House approved a $3.4-trillion bill in May, but in the Senate, Republicans hit “pause” on a new relief bill. “But now that the election is over and the end of the year is at hand, suddenly there’s room for a deal — a very bipartisan deal that was on the table all along and that could have been passed into law months ago.” After months of fits and starts, negotiations kicked into high gear again earlier this month, when a bipartisan group of lawmakers slimmed the stimulus bill down to about $908 billion, removing the most political contentious pieces.