Congress approves $14 billion more for airlines in new aid package
Congress approved $14 billion for U.S. airlines’ labor costs as part of the $1.9 billion aid package Congress passed Wednesday. In exchange for this third round of federal payroll support, airlines are prohibited from cutting jobs or workers’ pay rates through Sept. 30.
That aid will have the biggest impact on workers at American Airlines and United Airlines, which have warned about 27,000 employees combined that their jobs are at risk when the current round of aid expires after March 31.
While travel demand remains weak, some airlines are starting to plan for a travel rebound and hiring again.
Since March 2020, when travel demand plunged early in the pandemic, Congress has passed $54 billion in payroll for U.S. carriers, which together lost more than $35 billion last year.
—Leslie Josephs
Relief package includes $40 billion boost for child care providers
As part of the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package approved by the House on Wednesday, the child care industry will receive $39 billion in direct funding through the Child Care and Development Block Grant Program (CCDBG). The legislation allocates an additional $1 billion to the Head Start program.
About $25 billion of that money will go toward a child-care stabilization fund to provide grants for child care centers, day cares, preschools and home-based child care programs. Providers can use these grants to help their businesses in a number of ways, including making payroll, purchasing sanitization supplies and covering fixed costs like rent.
“This is a monumental occasion and an historic investment in child care,” Lynette Fraga, CEO of Child Care Aware of America said in a statement Wednesday. “Across the COVID-19 relief packages passed over the past year, child care will have received over $50 billion in relief during this pandemic. This critical funding will save thousands of providers from permanent closure and help families across the country afford child care.”
—Megan Leonhardt
Stimulus bill gives nearly $40 billion to higher education
President Biden is expected to sign a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill that includes nearly $40 billion for higher education by the weekend.
The legislation extends the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund through September 2023, gives financial assistance to colleges and universities that do not have endowments worth over $1 million and supports emergency need-based financial aid for college students.
—Abigail Johnson Hess
NYC and New Jersey boost indoor dining capacity to 50% next week
Patrons enjoy lunch in a restaurant, on the first day of the return to indoor dining for New York City, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in New York, February 12, 2021.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Indoor dining in New York City and New Jersey will move to 50% capacity, up from 35%…
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