The House passed a nearly $500 billion interim coronavirus bill Thursday that includes additional money for the small-business loan program, as well as for hospitals and testing, making way for the legislation to become law by the end of the week, NBC News reported.
The bill passed by a 388-5-1 bipartisan vote. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who argued that the package needed to include funding for states and cities, was the only Democrat to vote against the bill, which does not include the additional funding for states and local governments that Democrats had sought.
Republican Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Jody Hice of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky also voted against the bill. Rep. Justin Amash, I-Mich., voted present.
The bill includes more than $320 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, created by the CARES Act, which was passed late last month. The program, which quickly ran out of money because of heavy demand, provides forgivable loans to small businesses that keep their employees on the payroll.
About $60 billion of the additional PPP funding would be set aside for businesses that do not have established banking relationships, such as rural and minority-owned companies. Expanding access to the aid was a priority for Democrats who worried that some businesses were being shut out of the fund.
The bill would also provide $60 billion in loans and grants for the Small Business Administration’s disaster relief fund, $75 billion for hospitals and $25 billion for coronavirus testing.
President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill by the end of the week. At Thursday’s coronavirus task force briefing, he said he would sign it “probably tonight.”
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said on the House floor before the vote that she was dedicating the legislation to her sister who is dying from the virus.
“I’m going to take a moment to dedicate this legislation to my dear sister who is dying in a hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, right now, infected by the coronavirus,” Waters said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., acknowledged Waters’ revelation at a ceremony after the bill was passed.
“It is my honor to sign it. but I do so very sadly and prayerfully. Maxine learned today that her sister has been diagnosed with the virus. It could happen to anybody at any time on the floor,” Pelosi said.
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