Schumer: COVID-19 bill offers relief but doesn’t do enough

WXXI News | By Noelle E. C. Evans

Published December 21, 2020 at 5:30 PM EST

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) of New York state is the Senate minority leader.

Congress finalized a COVID-19 relief deal as of Monday. The package includes $600 stimulus checks per person, including green card holders, and $300 a week in unemployment benefits.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer said this is an emergency survival deal, not a stimulus.

“Those who think that this bill is enough haven’t heard the desperation in the eyes of a small-business owner who is on the brink of ruin,” Schumer said Monday afternoon. “They haven’t seen a grandson or granddaughter say goodbye to Grandma on Zoom. So there’s so much more to be done.”

The bill also includes a$5.8 billion Education Stabilization Fund for public schools and universities in New York state, and nearly $1.6 billion for statewide vaccine distribution and contact tracing efforts. About$1.3 billion will go to emergency rental assistance.

“This is some good news for New York, but this is not and cannot be the end of the story,” he said.

A federal eviction moratorium will continue until Jan. 31, but could be extended further by the next presidential administration.Schumer said that while state and local governments have separate laws about how long they can postpone evictions, whichever law lasts longer would apply.

Congress is finalizing a COVID-19 relief deal. The bill includes $600 dollar stimulus checks as well as rent and eviction relief. As WXXI’s Noelle Evans tells us, this bill is a bit different from the last stimulus package in the spring.