The Senate passed a $484 billion deal yesterday to replenish a small-business loan program that’s been overrun by demand and to devote more money to hospitals and coronavirus testing, the Washington Post reported. President Trump said he would sign it into law. The legislation, which came together over days of intense negotiation that followed a bitter partisan standoff, would increase funding for the Paycheck Protection Program by $310 billion. It would also boost a separate small-business emergency grant and loan program by $60 billion, and direct $75 billion to hospitals and $25 billion to a new coronavirus testing program. The House is expected to approve the measure on Thursday. The Paycheck Protection Program was designed to help firms with fewer than 500 workers, but a number of larger companies found ways to obtain the funds in the past two weeks, leading to bipartisan outrage. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said yesterday that larger firms would now be blocked from using the program, and Trump called on some big companies that had already obtained taxpayer-backed loans to return the money.
