The U.S. federal government passed a roughly $2 trillion coronavirus response bill on March 27. It’s intended to prop up U.S. workers, business and the economy. This is actually the third phase of the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) and the one that applies to most households. Here is the federal nutshell version, with more Keys Weekly information about business and commercial fishing relief coming soon. The state of Florida is also offering programs, and there will be more on those soon, too.
- Direct payments
Individuals can expect to receive $1,200 each, and joint filers should receive $2,400, with an extra $500 per child. There’s a sliding scale decrease for those who make $75,000 individually, or $150,000 for married couples. There is a cap. For example, those who make more than $75,000 individually will not receive a direct payment. The payments that are sent out will be automatic as the IRS will use information from the 2019 or 2018 tax filing.
- Home Mortgages
The act prohibits foreclosures on all federally-backed mortgage loans for a 60-day period beginning on March 18, 2020. Applicable mortgages include those purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, insured by HUD, VA, or USDA, or directly made by USDA. The act also prohibits landlords from evicting anyone for 120 days who is living in federally-backed, or financed, rental housing.
- Unemployment Insurance
The bill also provides relief for states’ unemployment insurance systems. That means claimants can receive up to $600 per claimant per week for up to 16 weeks, on top of what the state’s unemployment system would normally dole out. Finally, the bill funds an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits through Dec. 31, 2020 to help those who remain unemployed after state unemployment benefits are no longer available.
According to a press release from U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsell-Powell, the spread of COVID-19 has forced state business to lay off about 40,000 workers. She said that in the last week alone, Florida received about 5,000 applications for reemployment assistance and more than 130,000 calls.
