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Lawmakers Race to Approve Additional Coronavirus Funding for Struggling
Americans

Katherine Gypson

   Less than two weeks after U.S. lawmakers passed the largest economic
   relief package in the country's history, Congress is set to advance
   even more funding Thursday to help struggling American workers.

   The measure would provide additional funding for the Paycheck
   Protection Program (PPP), a $350 billion program that is part of the
   broader Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES, Act.

   That $2.2 trillion rescue package was quickly written and passed by
   Congress late last month, as businesses nationwide dealt with the
   economic fallout of coronavirus stay-at-home orders.

   The temporary closure of millions of businesses triggered historic
   levels of unemployment, with nearly 10 million Americans filing
   assistance claims in a two-week span in March. That marked the worst
   period for unemployment filings since 1982. Many analysts predict those
   numbers could soon reach levels last seen in the United States during
   the Great Depression in the 1930s.

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