$600 Payments Coming To Most GA Residents Under Relief Agreement

GEORGIA — A new coronavirus relief package that includes a second round of stimulus checks has been agreed upon by bickering members of Congress, with a vote on the nearly $900 billion deal expected on Monday.

For millions of Georgia residents, it means direct cash payments. It also means expanded and extended federal unemployment benefits, a stay on evictions and help for business and schools.

Here's what it could mean for you:

• Stimulus payments for most residents would be $600, half of what was sent out in the spring. The payments will go to adults who made less than $75,000 individually and less than $150,000 as a couple in 2019. Payments will decrease for people who made over $75,000 and won't be available for people who earned more than $99,000. Adults will also get $600 for each child they claim as a dependent. It's unknown when the money will come by, but the CARES Act payments came within two months for most Americans.
• Federal unemployment benefits will provide an extra $300 a week and extend coverage to those eligible for another 11 weeks, running through at least March 14. The benefits also extend to self-employed and gig workers who are drawing from the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. Many federal benefits were set to expire the day after Christmas. The money is half of the $600 per week unemployed people got under the previous relief package. Georgia has faced an unprecedented surge in unemployment throughout the pandemic.
• A federal moratorium on evictions would be extended through Jan. 31. The current moratorium was set to expire at the end of the year.
• There would be more than $284 billion under the Paycheck Protection Program, which has been expanded to help a wider array of businesses.
• Schools would receive $82 billion for HVAC repairs in an effort to help get children and teachers back into school safely. There is no word on how much Georgia schools might receive.

What they're saying

• Sen. Kelly Loeffler: "Today, we are delivering nearly $1 trillion in additional COVID relief, including new PPP funding & direct relief checks. Sadly, Schumer & Pelosi held this up for months to score political points — and @ReverendWarnock & @ossoff refused to challenge their heartless dysfunction."
• Sen. David Perdue: "After months of Democrats playing politics with Americans’ health and livelihoods, we finally have a path forward to delivering additional COVID relief."

• Democratic senate candidate, Jon Ossoff: "It’s been 8 months. $600? Really? After 8 months of obstruction Senator Perdue and Senate Republicans insisted on cutting direct relief checks for Georgia families in half. $600 won’t cover the rent or the bills that have piled up over their months of inaction. We deserve better."
• Democratic senate candidate, Raphael Warnock, "More federal support can’t come quickly enough for struggling Georgia families. But @Kloeffler deserves no applause for being months late and hundreds of dollars short. We need a Senator who cares more about Georgians than their stock portfolio."