Phase III: Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act

The U.S. Congress and White House have developed “phase three” legislation to respond to COVID-19 crisis. It provides needed resources to health care professionals and patients as well as financial relief for American workers, families, small businesses and industries.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, also known as the CARES Act, provides direct and immediate assistance to those who need it most — and it does so quickly. It supports every layer of our economy.

March 27: Leader McCarthy uges swift passage of the CARES Act on the House floor.

Our top priority is keep America working. So we aimed efforts to keep employees employed through two measures.

1. 100 percent federally-guaranteed loans for 8 weeks of assistance to small businesses and nonprofits. If the loan is used to maintain payroll, the portion of the loan used for payroll costs, interest on mortgage obligations, rent, and utilities would be forgiven.
2. For the mid-large sized businesses, there is a retention credit to keep employees on.

Additionally, we offer businesses loans to get through this crisis. As I’ve said, this crisis is not caused by bad actors in our economy. This is a black swan event.

If a worker is home sick or caring for the sick, the government supports their time away from work.

Specifically, in our phase II legislation, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, we created a 100% credit to cover the wages of individuals who are sick, and a credit for two-thirds of the wage for individuals at home caring for the sick and children.

If — unfortunately — someone finds themselves out of work this bill offers and additional 13 weeks of unemployment insurance and expands eligibility. It also makes benefits more generous by adding a $600 per week across-the-board payment increase through the end of July.

• The CARES Act expands unemployment insurance to cover gig workers and self-employed and non-profit employees.

For American families that might need a little extra support — the government is providing direct assistance.

Payments of as much as $1,200 for individual taxpayers, and $500 per child. These are phased out when incomes exceed $75,000 for individuals, $112,500 for head of household, and $150,000 for couples filing jointly.

Finally, this legislation provides critical resources to American health care workers and hospitals.

The bill provides over $140 billion in appropriations to support our health system, including:

• $16 billion to the Strategic National Stockpile to procure personal protective equipment, ventilators, and other medical supplies for federal and state response efforts.
• $100 billion for a new program to provide grants to hospitals, public entities, not-for-profit entities, and Medicare and Medicaid enrolled suppliers and institutional providers to cover unreimbursed health care related expenses or lost revenues attributable to the public health emergency resulting from the coronavirus.
• $11 billion to support research and development of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics to prevent or treat the effects of coronavirus.

For more information, visit our Covid-19 Response Phase 3 FAQs sheet.