# Democratic items in stimulus bill that have little or nothing to do with coronavirus relief **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 24, 2020, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-items-in-stimulus-bill-that-have-little-or-nothing-to-do-with-coronavirus-relief/850147 "2020-03-24T04:21:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-items-in-stimulus-bill-that-have-little-or-nothing-to-do-with-coronavirus-relief/850147/61 "2020-03-25T12:39:12Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > I’m 99.9% sure the Kennedy Center is closed for the duration. How are they going to back to work? I’m 99.9% sure you can figured out the answer on your own. It’s okay to ask for hints though. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-items-in-stimulus-bill-that-have-little-or-nothing-to-do-with-coronavirus-relief/850147/62 "2020-03-25T15:32:52Z")
> [@pool](#): > > All those issues are important but this should be a streamlined bill that can take effect immediately, these other issues should be dealt with later so they can be argued on their merits and debated and fleshed out properly. You must be confusing the U.S. Senate under Mitch McConnell for a legislative body where this will be permitted. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2020, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-items-in-stimulus-bill-that-have-little-or-nothing-to-do-with-coronavirus-relief/850147/63 "2020-03-25T16:15:06Z")
My husband called from his car to say that he had just listened to an NPR article on the radio about this bill. He was sure he heard that the bill guaranteed workers their full pay for four months, as in full employer pay. I’m reading this NPR article online now and the relevant bit is this: > [@](#): > > An extended unemployment insurance program that will extend benefits to laid-off workers that will allow for four months of full pay rather than the usual three months for most. It will also raise the maximum unemployment insurance benefit by $600. It will apply to traditional workers for small and large businesses as well as those who are self-employed and workers in the gig economy. This was a key Democratic initiative, which Schumer dubbed “unemployment insurance on steroids.” This sounds like the “full pay” is full _unemployment_ pay, not full pay equal to that from your employer just previous to layoff, which is what my husband is asserting. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-items-in-stimulus-bill-that-have-little-or-nothing-to-do-with-coronavirus-relief/850147/64 "2020-03-26T02:59:13Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > This sounds like the “full pay” is full _unemployment_ pay, not full pay equal to that from your employer just previous to layoff, which is what my husband is asserting. Sort of. Actually, the bill would extend unemployment benefits to up to 39 weeks at $600 more than the regular unemployment benefit. Which has caused some Senate R’s to point out that for some of the lower-tier workers that would mean their unemployment check is higher than their regular check was, and Sen. Sasse is proposing an amendment to cap that. Meanwhile, employers who DO keep their furloughed employees on the payroll would get a 50% \*credit \*on the salary up to $10,000 per employee for the time that happened, qualified quarterly, when forced to close including by lockdown order as well as the disease itself or business loss (with a number of thresholds to meet), up to end of year. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-items-in-stimulus-bill-that-have-little-or-nothing-to-do-with-coronavirus-relief/850147/65 "2020-03-26T16:00:04Z")
\*\* What’s in the $2 Trillion Senate Coronavirus Bill: How households, businesses, taxes and more are affected by the package \*\* [http://archive.is/NYOB3](http://archive.is/NYOB3) No increase in food stamps, but lots of goodies for business. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-items-in-stimulus-bill-that-have-little-or-nothing-to-do-with-coronavirus-relief/850147/66 "2020-03-26T16:43:13Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > \*\* > What’s in the $2 Trillion Senate Coronavirus Bill: > How households, businesses, taxes and more are affected by the package > \*\* > [http://archive.is/NYOB3](http://archive.is/NYOB3) > > No increase in food stamps, but lots of goodies for business. Increasing food stamps would just encourage people to go out and get groceries, helping to spread the virus! The Republicans just have their best interests in mind. Maybe they could boil and eat the bootstraps they should be pulling themselves up by. \<\sarcasm\> [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democratic-items-in-stimulus-bill-that-have-little-or-nothing-to-do-with-coronavirus-relief/850147.md?page=3)