LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — President Donald Trump signed a $9.8 billion dollar coronavirus relief package into law Sunday opening the doors for aid to people desperate in the face of the nearly year long global pandemic after a week of veto threats.
The bill was passed along with the annual federal spending package worth $2.3 trillion avoiding a government shutdown.
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The government will now extend eviction protections, fund vaccine distribution efforts, enhance unemployment benefits, and provide $600 direct payments to anyone making less than $75,000 a year.
Trump held off on approving the relief demanding at the last minute that Congress raise direct aid to families to $2,000 per person angering Democrats and members of his own party, including Maryland's Republican governor.
"If the president thought that that was the case he should have weighed in eight months ago," Gov. Larry Hogan said, "We have been fighting this since March or April or at least eight days ago."
While the bill has been signed into law, several of Nevada's unemployment benefit programs expired over the weekend including the pandemic unemployment assistance program, pandemic emergency employment compensation, and state extended benefits.
RELATED: Thousands of Nevadans will lose unemployment if bill not signed
DETR officials indicated it would be several weeks before the Federal Labor Department released guidelines on spending the new round of funding to potentially restart those programs.
According to CNN, the Trump Administration has already submitted a rescission request to congress attempting to cut what it called wasteful spending from the existing coronavirus spending bill.
The reports said the requests could not force congress to change the law, but it could delay certain funds being rolled out for 45 days.
