On Capitol Hill, lawmakers appear close to passing a second, $900 billion COVID-19 stimulus package after months of deadlock. The bill is likely to include additional unemployment assistance of $300 a week and one-off payments of between $600 and $700 — half the amount from the first stimulus package. The measure will not include the Democrats’ desired $160 billion for state and local aid as a compromise for excluding the financial liability protections for corporations that Republicans have been pushing for for months.
This comes as new data shows the U.S. poverty rate has surged in recent months, with close to 8 million people pushed into poverty since the summer. It’s by far the largest jump since the government began tracking poverty data 60 years ago.