By: Ilana Siyance
President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion stimulus package on Thursday.
The federal coronavirus relief package will include about $6 billion in local aid to New York City, $6.5 billion to the MTA, and relief for restaurants, small businesses and entertainment sites. The stimulus passed in the House and Senate despite unanimous Republican opposition.
Mayor Bill de Blasio lauded the package saying, “Take stock of this moment, everyone, because it’s extraordinary,” de Blasio said. “The biggest action by the federal government for the people of this country since the New Deal.”
“There’s funding for vaccines, funding for schools, funding to bring our schools back strong in September, funding to help our restaurants survive and thrive, and the wonderful initiative Save our Stages — which I know was a particular labor of love for Senator Schumer — bringing back Broadway, Off-Broadway, so much of the culture that makes New York City great,” de Blasio said.
As per Patch, eligible New Yorkers can prepare to receive a $1,400 stimulus check, with direct deposit payments starting the week of March 17, and paper checks being sent out the week after. To be eligible, individuals will need to earn $75,000 or less, or single parents earning up to $120,000 and couples with household income of under $160,000. Eligible couples filing taxes jointly can get $2,800, and eligible dependents can also add on $1,400 each. The child tax credit is also being increased from $2,000, to a new max of $3,600 per child under 6 and $3,000 per child between the ages of 6 and 16 for 2021. This will primarily benefit individuals earning under $75,000 a year, or $150,000 as a couple.
The plan also extends federal unemployment payments of $300 per week through Sept. 6. The proposed $15 federal minimum wage increase did not get passed with the bill. The stimulus also targets help for the MTA, helping the agency avoid the mass transit cuts warned against for months. Debt-ridden taxi drivers can also look forward to the taxi medallion relief fund.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo hailed the passage of the “historic” bill. “This legislation confronts the dual health and economic crises created by the war on COVID by providing much-needed relief to lift New York families out of dire economic straits, critical funds to expand and accelerate New York’s growing vaccination efforts and targeted relief for state and local governments,” Cuomo said in a statement.
