03/04/2020

House Passes $8.3 Billion Emergency Coronavirus Package

Only two Republican lawmakers opposed it

The House passed a $7.8 billion emergency spending bill Wednesday to fund the U.S. government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. The Senate is expected to vote on the measure later this week and send it to President Donald Trump for his signature.

The bipartisan bill, passed 415-2, is more than triple the amount Trump last week proposed spending to deal with the virus. In addition to $7.8 billion that would be appropriated, the measure waives restrictions on a Medicare telehealth program to let recipients get remote care at a estimated cost of $500 million. Republicans Ken Buck of Colorado and Andy Biggs of Arizona voted against the measure. 

Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday at a meeting with House Democrats that the administration supports the spending bill, lawmakers said. There are more than 100 cases of coronavirus infection in the U.S., Pence said earlier, and 11 people have died. Total cases globally have topped 93,000.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Bloomberg.