President Trump has signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act just a few hours after the House of Representatives passed the legislation. The historic $2 trillion economic recovery package includes direct payments to individuals, significantly expanded unemployment coverage, business relief through payroll credits and attractive SBA funding options, and significant resources for health care facilities in dire need of relief.
The White House, Treasury Department, Small Business Administration, and other agencies now must quickly implement the law to flood the economy with economic relief. Over 3.3 million employees filed for unemployment last week. The law authorizes Treasury to send $1,200 payments to millions of Americans and creates programs to disburse close to $1 trillion in business loans and guarantees to millions of large and small companies throughout the entire economy.
Small businesses will have access to close to $400 billion in loans from the new legislation, which amounts to the largest economic stimulus package in the nation’s history. The Treasury Secretary indicated the Small Business Administration (SBA) would set up a new lending program within a week. Qualified lenders are already working with the SBA to quickly support business borrowers.
More than 150 million households would receive checks under the legislation, which will send payments of $1,200 to many Americans ($2,400 for married couples) plus $500 for children. A family of four could qualify for $3,000. People with incomes above $99,000 are not eligible, and the total benefit is phased out for people earning between $75,000 and $99,000. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday that most people could expect to receive the payments in three weeks, the legislation calls for the payments to be processed as “rapidly as possible.”
Officials will send electronic payments to households that have bank accounts on file with the IRS. Otherwise, the IRS will have to issue paper checks. Mnuchin claims that these funds will be available for direct deposit in three weeks. It could take longer for paper checks to be mailed.
We are working to provide additional details on the legislation, as enacted, as quickly as possible. We will be offering live Zoom Q&As next week to answer questions related to the resources available to date including the CAREs legislation. If you are interested in attending the live Zoom meeting, please let us know and we will reach out with information.