COVID Relief Legislation Passes US House and Senate

Late on Monday, the US House and Senate took up and passed an omnibus spending bill that would fund the federal government through September 30, 2021 and avoiding a government shutdown that could have come as early as this week.
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Additionally, the legislation also includes approximately $900 billion in long-awaited pandemic relief for consumers and businesses. Since the passage of the original $2.2 trillion CARES Act back in March, CUNA and MnCUN have spent the intervening months detailing the need for continued action from the federal government and the final bill includes many credit union priorities as a result. The provisions we have advocated for that were included in the final language were:
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• $284 billion for a reauthorization of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and loan forgiveness simplification process that largely tracks the language credit unions have supported and which Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) has sponsored.
• $12 billion for CDFI and MDI institutions: $9 billion in long-term capital investments and $3 billion in grants and technical assistance. 
• $25 billion in emergency rental assistance.
• 1-year extension of Central Liquidity Facility (CLF) and Troubled Debt Relief (TDR) provisions
• An Employee Retention Tax Credit for which all credit unions will be eligible going forward.

In addition to these facets, some other highlights from the bill that will affect credit unions include:

• Stimulus checks that will go up to $600 per person, including adults and children. The size of the payment decreases for people who earned more than $75,000 in the 2019 tax year. The check disappears altogether for those who earned more than $99,000. Stimulus payments are expected to start going out next week.
• An extension of unemployment benefits of up to $300 per week that could kick in as early as Dec. 27 and run at least through March 14.
• An extension to January 31 of the moratorium on evictions that was slated to expire at the end of the year. The incoming Biden administration can extend the deadline further.

The final bill was well over 5000 pages so a full analysis will yet take time, but we are confident that credit unions have had a hugely positive impact on the finished product.

Network staff will follow the bill as it makes it way to the President for signature or veto.

Thanks those who shared the needs of your members during the pandemic – the stories that you shared truly helped make an impact when we spoke to legislators about the importance of continued legislative relief issues.