NORTH CAROLINA, USA — BREAKING UPDATE: Around 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that an agreement has been reached on a nearly $900 billion coronavirus relief package. It includes a vast number of elements, including funding for the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses, vaccine delivery, and another round of stimulus checks via direct payments to Americans.
"We can finally report what our nation has needed to hear for a long time: help is on the way," McConnell said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the bill includes $300 in federal unemployment benefits for the next 10 weeks, and stimulus checks of $600 for every eligible American child and adult.
"After a long and arduous year, after a year full of bad news, finally we have some good news to deliver to the American people."
The long-awaited economic relief bill of almost $1 trillion was finally agreed upon Sunday.
The next batch of stimulus checks provide $600 per person, with lower amounts for people earning more than $75,000 per year, according to multiple media reports.
For example, a family of four could receive up to $2,400.
"Yes, it's going to be $600," Senator Mitt Romney told CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday morning. "I believe there's going to be a deal. There are always sticking points. But the big one was resolved last night very late."
Lawmakers gathered Sunday for a scheduled session in the U.S. House and have been working through the weekend.
The large bill is also said to include other aspects of COVID-19 relief, as well as other legislation on taxes, health, infrastructure and education.
President Donald Trump published a tweet just after midnight on Sunday, offering his opinion.
"Why isn’t Congress giving our people a Stimulus Bill? It wasn’t their fault, it was the fault of China. GET IT DONE, and give them more money in direct payments," the President wrote.
The first round of stimulus checks for Americans - $1,200 per person - were part of the CARES Act, passed March 27th. It also included $600 extra money for unemployed people from the federal government (on top of state unemployment benefits) that expired Saturday, July 25.
WFMY News 2's Tanya Rivera spoke with financial experts on Friday as anticipation began building over stimulus checks.
Experts Mark Hensley, Associate Director of the Triad Region's AARP, and Kevin Robinson of Robinson Tax Services want you to remember, a stimulus check is not taxable income, it is part of a tax credit. When you file taxes for 2020, you'll see the tax credit, and you'll have already received all or part of it with the stimulus check you got in 2020. The check acted as a pay-in-advance of the credit. The next stimulus check would act much in the same way and be part of a tax credit for 2021 taxes that you would file in 2022.
"The definition of a dependent with an IRS, that is for taxable purposes, does not always correlate with the dependent definition for a second stimulus, so we are going to have to watch and really see what they define," Hensley said.