Trump signs bill to help small businesses and health care providers

The $484 billion bill was the second government aid package signed into law.

On Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump signed a $484 billion bill to provide $484 billion in additional aid to small businesses and health care providers in the face of a coronavirus pandemic.

Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill. "388 lawmakers voted in favor and 5 voted against. On Tuesday, the bill was unanimously approved by the Senate.

Most of the money would go to small businesses that did not receive help from the last package. Democrats have insisted that some of the money from the new $320 billion Paycheck Protection Program go to women- and minority-owned businesses or those without banks.

Under the program, if a company uses the money it receives to pay workers for the next two months, the government will cover the cost and the company won't have to pay the money back.

Launched on April 7, the program proved so popular that it ran out of money within days.

Republican Congressman Kevin Brady, speaking in support of the bill's passage, said the program "helps an estimated 1.6 million local businesses, impacting 30 million jobs in construction, retail, manufacturing, health care, hospitality, and services.

A Labor Department report released Thursday showed that another 4.4 million Americans were out of work last week. In all, the number of unemployed rose by 26 million during the shutdown.

Now, lawmakers are beginning negotiations on a second massive aid package. According to House Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Democrats are pushing for the bill to include aid to states and localities that was not included in the previous initiative.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday urged extreme caution in allocating the next aid package.

At the time of the bill's signing, more than 870,000 people in the U.S. had been infected with the coronavirus and more than 50,000 had died, according to Johns Hopkins University.

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