RICHMOND, Va. – The White House and Senate leaders agreed to a $2 trillion relief package Tuesday, which among other things, could provide American workers with an extra several thousand dollars in relief due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Virginia Senator Tim Kaine spoke on the Senate floor Monday saying the bill should put workers first, and also focus on helping small businesses, large businesses and industry sectors, state and local governments, and America's healthcare network.
"The American public wants us to get the details right," said Senator Kaine. "This package has got to be right for working people
One day later, Senators came to a bipartisan agreement on that bill, which would include sending checks to most workers.
"First there will be direct payments to every American adult up to a certain income threshold along with close to $500 to $600 per child," said Virginia Senator Mark Warner. "So most average families would see an influx of around 3,000 dollars."
Senator Warner said along with providing aid to workers, the bill aims to majorly help small businesses.
"Think here about your local restaurant, barber shop, local retail store," Warner said. "We will provide one of the most generous packages ever to make sure these small businesses can keep their employees on payroll and make sure they don’t have to close down their businesses."
The package also provides 500 billion dollars in loans for big businesses, and billions more for resources and support for hospitals and healthcare across the country.
If passed, it will go down as the largest relief package thus far in America’s history.
CBS 6's Political Analyst Dr. Bob Holsworth said the biggest questions now lies in the execution and timing.
"How quickly and how well can they execute it?" Dr. Bob asked in a phone interview with CBS 6. "When and who is going to do it… state government or private companies?"
He added that they will have to get this done very quickly, and that the government has never done anything like this at this level before.
The Senate was set to pass the bill Wednesday -- then send it to the House.
President Trump would need to sign it into law before people would receive their checks.