April 23 (UPI) — The House on Thursday voted in favor of a $484 billion coronavirus aid bill, sending it to President Donald Trump’s desk for a signature.
The measure had strong bipartisan support, with a 388-5 vote.
The legislation is the third stimulus package to pass Congress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 47,000 and sickened another 864,000 in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The measure includes another $310 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program. The PPP, initially set up to provide $350 billion in loans to small businesses to survive the coronavirus crisis, ran out of money last week. In this round, $60 billion of the funding is specifically set aside for underbanked businesses.
The deal also includes $60 billion in economic disaster assistance loans and grants, $75 billion for hospitals and $25 billion for coronavirus testing. Out of the testing funds, $11 billion is set aside for states while the federal government will also get some of the funding.
The relief comes on top of the $2.3 trillion Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act passed last month to help Americans and the U.S. economy recover from the coronavirus crisis.
Trump is expected to sign the bill into law.
“I urged the House to pass the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act with additional funding for PPP, hospitals and testing,” Trump tweeted earlier this week. “After I sign this bill, we will begin discussions on the next legislative initiative with fiscal relief.”
Earlier Thursday, the House also voted to create a new committee to oversee the federal government’s use and dispersal of the trillions of dollars approved for coronavirus relief. The panel will be a select investigative subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee and will have subpoena powers.
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