releases: https://sablan.house.gov/any-marianas-benefit-trump-memos
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
This data as json
| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| https://sablan.house.gov/any-marianas-benefit-trump-memos | Any Marianas benefit in Trump memos? | 2020-08-17 | 2020 | 2020-08 | Democrat | House | MP | Gregorio Sablan | S001177 | sablan.house.gov | legacy | With the Trump administration and Senate Republicans unwilling to extend beyond July the $600 weekly unemployment benefit people in the Marianas are finally receiving, many are asking whether the memorandum on this issue, which the President issued on August 8, will make any difference. The simple answer is no. But let me share with you more details from a briefing I attended on Friday, looking closely at the three memos and one executive order from the President last weekend, dealing with unemployment and other expiring provisions of the CARES Act: Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation The HEROES Act the House passed in May would extend the additional $600 per week in unemployment benefits through the end of January 2021. The President's weekend memo only provides half, $300 in federal funds. But that money is only available if each state and territory agrees to match with another $100. And, even if a cash-strapped government like the Commonwealth could find the local match, the federal money the President earmarked would run out after five weeks. Housing assistance and eviction moratorium The HEROES Act provides $100 billion in rental assistance, $75 billion to assist homeowners with mortgage payments and other housing costs, and extends the eviction moratorium for up to a year. The moratorium lapsed on July 24. The President's Executive Order does not provide any actual funding assistance to homeowners or renters. And, instead of extending the eviction moratorium, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are simply asked to consider whether the eviction moratorium is necessary to the coronavirus from spreading from one State or possession into any other State or possession. Compared to the year-long relief under the HEROES Act House approved in May, the Trump memo only offers a three-month freeze on federal student loan payments. And all student loan borrowers will once again be subject to involuntary collections. Unlike the president's order, the Heroes Act provides up to $10,000 in student debt relief for more than 20 million federal student loan borrowers with the greatest need. The HEROES Act expanded the Employee Retention Tax Credit, a refundable payroll tax credit created in the CARES Act. The expansion allows employers to receive a refundable tax credit of up to 80 percent of qualified wages or health care expenses per employee to help businesses retain employees and stay open during this coronavirus crisis. In contrast, the President's memorandum directs the U.S. Treasury to defer collection of payroll taxes for employees earning less than $104,000 beginning September 1 through the end of December. This action does not guarantee any measurable benefit for workers. Furthermore, the payroll tax liability will still accrue and businesses will have to pay up at the end of December. View the full briefing here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |