MILWAUKEE — More than nine months after March’s CARES Act provided a first round of pandemic relief, President Trump signed off on a new $900 billion stimulus bill Sunday night.

The package — which was tied up with a $1.4 trillion government spending bill — includes a wide range of funding measures for a country struggling with both a public health crisis and an economic downturn.

Though it was passed in a bipartisan vote last Monday, the legislation had been stuck on the president’s desk after he raised some last-minute issues with the package. Even now that the standoff is over, Trump said in a statement that he would keep pushing Congress to raise direct payments and cut “wasteful items” from the spending bill.

In a statement after Trump’s signing, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the legislation “a down payment of what is needed to crush the virus, put money in the pockets of the American people and honor our heroes.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell added in his own statement that “the compromise bill is not perfect,” but would do “an enormous amount of good” for those struggling across the country.

Here, we break down some of the many pieces of the stimulus package, and how they will provide relief for Wisconsinites.

For individuals

As part of the deal, more stimulus checks will go out to millions of Americans. 

Right now, the maximum direct payment amount is set at $600 per person, half as much as the first round of direct payments. The $600 amount applies to each qualifying adult and child in a household. So, a family of two adults and two kids, for example, could get up to $2,400.

That amount could grow, though, as the House and Senate are set to vote Monday on a standalone bill that would increase the checks to $2,000 per person. The direct payments have been a big point of contention for the package: Democrats in Congress had originally pushed for larger checks, but Republican lawmakers wanted to cut back on spending.

The new payments will follow the same criteria as the first round, CBS reports: Those who earned more than $75,000 in 2019 would get a reduced amount, while anyone who made more than $99,000 would be ineligible for a check. Adults who are claimed as dependents — like college students who are still listed on their parents’ tax returns — will be shut out of the payments again.

Wisconsin’s 2019 median household income was around $62,000, according to Census Bureau estimates, so many residents of the Badger State will likely qualify for the full stimulus check.

In a statement earlier this month, Rep. Gwen Moore of Milwaukee said direct payments would be an essential support for Americans to pay rent and keep food on the table.

“A true relief package must lift everyone up,” Moore said in the statement. “And one of the best ways to do this is by putting money in the hands of the people.”

The relief package will also extend a moratorium on evictions that was set to expire at the end of the year, according to The Washington Post, though only for an extra month. Plus, the measure would send $25 billion into a first-ever federal rental assistance program, aimed at helping those who have fallen behind on rent during the pandemic.

For jobless Wisconsinites

In addition to these direct payments, the new measure will provide some more support for the millions of Americans who are unemployed, temporarily boosting unemployment benefits by $300 per week. 

The CARES Act initially offered a twice-as-high $600 weekly bonus for jobless Americans, but that expired in July. The new payments will be available for a maximum of 11 weeks per person through mid-March.

Plus, the new measure would revive two unemployment programs that expired the day after Christmas​ — one that offers special help for gig workers, and another that lets residents collect aid for a longer period after losing work.

Wisconsin’s unemployment rate actually decreased slightly in November compared to earlier in the fall, reaching around 5% by the end of the month, according to data from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. But unemployment is still significantly up from pre-COVID levels.

As of Dec. 12, the DWD reported that it had paid out over $4.55 billion in unemployment claims for 576,650 Wisconsinites since the start of the pandemic. 

For businesses

The relief measure will also revive the Paycheck Protection Program, an economic lifeline providing forgivable loans to some businesses struggling to stay afloat.

Extra PPP money can be used to give new grants or a second round of funding for particularly hard-hit businesses.

In earlier rounds, full-service restaurants were approved for the most PPP loans in Wisconsin, while new car dealers were approved for the highest dollar amounts, according to analysis from the Milwaukee Business Journal. 

Bars and restaurants have been hit particularly hard as the pandemic has made in-person dining risky — and especially as colder months have put limits on outdoor options.

A recent survey from the National Restaurant Association found that in Wisconsin, restaurant sales were down 39% as of this month. Almost half of restaurant operators were considering closing until the pandemic ended; around 37% said they would likely go out of business in the next six months if they didn’t get additional government relief.

At a virtual event earlier this month, Dan Jacobs, the co-founder of Milwaukee’s Dandan restaurant, made a direct plea to president-elect Joe Biden on behalf of restaurant workers.

“We are worse off right now than we were in March,” Jacobs said. “At least in March there was hope and a feeling that we're all in this together. Now, we look toward the long winter that's here with a feeling of true desperation.”

For health care 

Of course, to really move forward from the pandemic, we’ll have to end the pandemic first. The new stimulus package includes $69 billion to go toward fighting COVID-19 through vaccine distribution, testing, tracing, and otherwise supporting health care providers.

A significant portion of Wisconsin’s pandemic funding, so far, has gone into supporting health care infrastructure, according to the state’s investment dashboard.

The state allocated $202 million for testing supplies and lab diagnostics, plus $75 million to ramp up contact-tracing efforts. An allotment of $150 million went to buy up PPE and sanitizing supplies. And another $150 million went directly to hospitals or providers like clinics, nursing homes, and EMS agencies.

Many could use the support: Even as they’ve been tasked with caring for the sickest coronavirus patients, hospital systems have been losing hundreds of billions of dollars during the pandemic, the American Hospital Association estimates. 

In Wisconsin, hospitalizations have dropped during December. Still, as of Sunday, there were 1,088 coronavirus patients in hospitals across the state — who will, on average, require more time, more care, and more PPE than other types of patients.

Now, hospitals and public health departments are also in the midst of ramping up COVID-19 vaccine distribution — all of which amounts to a “monumental undertaking,” DHS Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk said at a briefing last week.

And more … 

There are a number of other provisions tucked into the massive bill (which is reportedly 5,593 pages long). 

K-12 schools, colleges, and universities will all get a boost as they struggle with classroom precautions and dramatic tuition drops. Food stamp recipients will see their benefits rise 15%. 

Other funds are earmarked for childcare support, the U.S. Postal Service, farmers, ranchers, and mental health services, among others.

Still, some Senate leaders emphasized that more help would be required as the pandemic continues to surge across the country. 

"While this isn't as robust as we need, it will at least provide some immediate assistance right now for people," Rep. Mark Pocan of Vermont, Wis., told WISN of the measure.