CARES Act

Bill: 116-s-3548
Sponsor: Sen. McConnell, Mitch [R-KY]
Introduced: 2020-03-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Appropriations
Aviation and airports
Business education
Cardiovascular and respiratory health
Charitable contributions
Child health
Civil actions and liability
Congressional oversight
Corporate finance and management
Corporation for National and Community Service
Department of Health and Human Services
Disability and health-based discrimination
Drug safety, medical device, and laboratory regulation
Drug therapy
Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Economic performance and conditions
Education programs funding
Emergency medical services and trauma care
Employee benefits and pensions
Employee hiring
Employee leave
Employment discrimination and employee rights
Employment taxes
Evidence and witnesses
Executive agency funding and structure
Federal preemption
Financial crises and stabilization
Financial services and investments
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Food assistance and relief
Foreign and international corporations
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government information and archives
Government lending and loan guarantees
Government studies and investigations
Health care costs and insurance
Health care coverage and access
Health care quality
Health facilities and institutions
Health information and medical records
Health personnel
Health programs administration and funding
Health promotion and preventive care
Health technology, devices, supplies
Higher education
Home and outpatient care
Hospital care
Housing discrimination
Immunology and vaccination
Income tax credits
Income tax deductions
Income tax exclusion
Infectious and parasitic diseases
Interest, dividends, interest rates
Judicial procedure and administration
Manufacturing
Medicaid
Medical tests and diagnostic methods
Medicare
Minority and disadvantaged businesses
Minority education
Motor fuels
National and community service
Nutrition and diet
Prescription drugs
Right of privacy
Rural conditions and development
Sales and excise taxes
Securities
Small Business Administration
Small business
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
State and local finance
State and local government operations
Strategic materials and reserves
Student aid and college costs
Tax administration and collection, taxpayers
Taxation of foreign income
Temporary and part-time employment
Transportation employees
U.S. territories and protectorates
Unemployment
User charges and fees
Veterinary medicine and animal diseases
Wages and earnings
Women in business

Summary:
action_date: 2020-03-19
text: 

Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or the CARES Act

 
This bill addresses economic impacts of, and otherwise responds to, the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak.
 
The bill authorizes emergency loans to distressed businesses, including air carriers, and suspends certain aviation excise taxes.
 
With respect to small businesses, the bill
 
 
establishes, and provides funding for, forgivable bridge loans; and 
 
provides additional funding for grants and technical assistance.

 
The bill also provides funding for $1,200 tax rebates to individuals, with additional $500 payments per qualifying child. The rebate begins phasing out when incomes exceed $75,000 (or $150,000 for joint filers). 
 
The bill establishes limits on requirements for employers to provide paid leave.
 
With respect to taxes, the bill
 
 
establishes special rules for certain tax-favored withdrawals from retirement plans; 
 
delays due dates for employer payroll taxes and estimated tax payments for corporations; and 
 
revises other provisions, including those related to losses, charitable deductions, and business interest.

 
With respect to health care, the bill
 
 
provides additional funding for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of COVID-19; 
 
limits liability for volunteer health care professionals; 
 
prioritizes Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review of certain drugs; 
 
allows emergency use of certain diagnostic tests that are not approved by the FDA; 
 
expands health-insurance coverage for diagnostic testing and requires coverage for preventative services and vaccines; 
 
revises other provisions, including those regarding the medical supply chain, the national stockpile, the health care workforce, the Healthy Start program, telehealth services, nutrition services, Medicare, and Medicaid.

 
With respect to education, the bill
 
 
temporarily suspends payments for federal student loans; and 
 
otherwise revises provisions related to campus-based aid, supplemental educational-opportunity grants, federal work-study, subsidized loans, Pell grants, and foreign institutions.

 
The bill also authorizes the Department of the Treasury to temporarily guarantee money-market funds.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-06-03
text: Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Hearings held.
action_date: 2020-03-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text: CR S1834-1859)
action_date: 2020-03-19
text: Introduced in Senate