The Tributary Where opinions & knowledge flow!
105 Woodward Avenue • PO Box 581 • Keenesburg, CO 80643 303-732-4080 • thetributaryeditor@gmail.com
Volume 11, Issue 32
In This Issue:
August 12, 2020
* Page 2 * Page 4
Available by Subscription
Trump Signs Executive Orders, cont. Helping Children Cope
Trump Signs Executive Orders To Extend COVID-19 Economic Relief, Includes Unemployment Benefits, Eviction Moratorium Kelly Anne SmithForbes Staff President Donald Trump has signed executive orders to extend economic relief after lawmakers were unable to reach an agreement on a new stimulus package. The orders include extending enhanced unemployment benefits and the federal eviction moratorium, imposing a payroll tax holiday and further suspending federal student loan payments. The orders come after the late-July expiration of federal unemployment benefits and a federal eviction moratorium. Trump first announced his plans to sign executive orders to provide further economic relief during the coronavirus at a Friday night press conference. Details on the Executive Orders Though Republicans and Democrats were able to make some progress in the past week regarding the components of a new stimulus package, they largely disagreed how much the next round of relief should cost. The White House rejected a $2 trillion proposal from Democratic leaders on Thursday. “[House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi and [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer have chosen to hold this vital assistance hostage,” Trump said during a briefing in Bedminster, New Jersey on Saturday afternoon. Friday’s jobs report showed the unemployment rate at 10.2%. Here are the four economic relief actions Trump signed this afternoon: Extending Enhanced Unemployment Benefits Trump’s executive order extends enhanced unemployment benefits
through the end of the year at a rate of $400 per week. States will be responsible for 25% of the cost via existing funding, Trump said, which will reduce the federal government’s obligation to $300 per week per recipient. The CARES Act expanded unemployment benefits dramatically and provided an additional federal payment boosting state benefits. That boost, called Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), gave unemployed Americans an additional $600 per week, on top of their regular state unemployment benefits. FPUC expired at the end of July. Expanding FPUC became a point of political contention as lawmakers negotiated the next stimulus package. The HEROES Act, proposed by House Democrats in May and used as their focal point during negotiations, would extend FPUC at $600 per week through the end of this year. GOP members largely pushed back on the proposal, arguing that the benefit would be a “disincentive” to return to work for those who made more money on unemployment than they did while working. Instead, Republicans pushed for $400 for 20 weeks or 70% replacement of previous wages with a $600 cap. “I’ve heard grave concerns from states about this proposal and they are simply going to opt out,” said Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) in an emailed statement Saturday evening. “Their budgets have been crushed. They cannot afford a 25% match, especially when unemployment trust funds are under tremendous strain and Republicans oppose funding for state and local governments.” Payroll Tax Holiday A payroll tax holiday will start Sept. 1 and go through until the end of the year. Trump said the holiday may be retroactive to Aug. 1. Workers earning less than $100,000 per year will be eligible for the payroll tax holiday, Trump said. Employers will be permitted to stop withholding those taxes from eligible employee paychecks during this period. The payroll tax holiday reduces the amount taken out of workers’ paychecks to fund Social Security and Medicare, but the benefits of such a holiday or a payroll tax cut can be limited and depend on a worker’s income and employment status. Cutting taxes would require Congressional action, but Trump can use his emergency powers to delay collecting taxes—meaning they would theoretically have to be paid back later unless Congress agreed to waive repayment. Trump said if he is reelected in November, he may forgive the payroll tax deferment and establish a permanent payroll tax cut. Trump, who has long advocated for a tax cut to be included in the next stimulus package, was faced with opposition from both Democrats and Republicans. Democrats argued it would do nothing to help the millions of unemployed Americans, and Republicans described it as “problematic.” The White House eventually dropped its request for the payroll tax cut, but has now made an about-face. More than 16 million Americans are currently unemployed, according to the most recent jobs report, and 1.2 million Americans filed jobless claims last week, marking the 20th straight week that more than one million people have applied for aid. Cont. on Page 2,
Postmaster: Send address change to The Tributary Box 581, Keenesburg, CO 80643 Periodicals Postage Pending at Keenesburg, CO
Periodical