This week, Subway and Mattress Firm announced plans to stop paying rent in the coming months due to corona-closures.
Millions of workers who recently lost their restaurant and retail jobs would ALSO love to cancel their rent… but they’re even less likely to get away with it.
It’s clear that businesses and employees are hurting. In this uncertain time, they’re turning to the same place for relief: Uncle Sam’s checkbook.
And yesterday, the Senate approved a $2T stimulus bill
In total, the new stimulus package is more than twice as much as Congress coughed up after the 2008 financial crisis.
Here’s how the corona-cash is expected to be divvied up:
1. Individuals and families will get $301B in direct assistance:
- Individuals who earn <$75k/year will get a $1.2k check.
- Families will receive an additional $500 per child.
- Assistance decreases for people who earn >$75k/year and stops for those who earn $99k+.
2. ~$350B in loans are earmarked for small businesses:
- They’ll be available through June 30, and forgiven for businesses that keep paying their employees.
- Companies with <500 employees can access loans of up to $10m to pay their staff.
- But many small businesses say they’re already running into problems getting financial assistance, and say they could go under before the new rescue money is doled out.
3. Unemployed workers will get $250B in benefits:
- Unemployment assistance will increase by $600 for the next 4 months.
- Benefits will extend for an additional 13 weeks and will apply to non-traditional employees like gig workers.
4. ~$500B in loans and other aid will be set aside for corporations, states, and local governments:
- $454B of the money will be available through a fund controlled by the Federal Reserve.
- The rest will be set aside for specific industries (including $29B for passenger and cargo airlines).
State and local governments will get $150B. When news of the deal broke yesterday, the Dow Jones rose more than 11%.
But critics still worry it’s not enough
Some critics told The New York Times that the government should be prepared to lend up to 5x more than this bill’s $2T to prevent further closures and layoffs.
The House is expected to vote on the measure on Friday.
