Misleading: Only seven percent of the emergency stimulus package will be granted to individuals. The rest will go to big businesses.

By: Rashmi S
January 15 2021

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The emergency stimulus package includes funding for both individuals and businesses, but the exact distribution of funds cannot be confirmed.In March 2020, Trump approved a $2 trillion emergency stimulus package—seven percent of which equates to approximately $140 billion. There are several data sets breaking down the funding. While these differ, they all indicate a significant amount more than the $140 billion figure in question. An infographic from Bloomberg shows that at least $290 billion of funds will be set aside for families and $260 billion will be provided for unemployment insurance. Similarly, Market Watch states that $560 billion will be awarded to individuals and families, while $500 billion will go towards "big corporations", including national security, cargo, contractors, and airlines. From looking at this information, it becomes apparent that the term "big business" is also ambiguous. There have been several infographics and posts on Facebook discussing the distribution of these funds. These all contain different numbers and statistics and do not all come from verified sources. In December 2020, Senator Mitch McConnell and others introduced a new $900 billion Covid-19 stimulus bill in the Senate to provide emergency funds for healthcare providers, schools, small businesses, large businesses in hard-hit sectors, as well as individuals and families facing unemployment and poverty as a result of the pandemic. Americans earning less than $75,000 a year are eligible to get $600, with an extra $300 in unemployment insurance for eleven weeks. CNBC reported that the bill brought forward by senators in December had been divided in two, with a $738 billion funding plan for unemployment relief, loans for small businesses, food assistance, and emergency rental relief. A second $160 billion proposal included funding for states and a liability fund for businesses against COVID-19 lawsuits, though this was dropped. Although the stimulus package will include aid to businesses hit by the pandemic, there is no concrete, up to date data sets showing how much funding this will include or names or organizations involved. On January 14, the New York Times reported that Biden intends to outline another stimulus package for "trillions of dollars", which is expected to focus on expanding the nation's vaccination program. Again, the contents of this package have not yet been detailed, though Biden has said that the current $600 funds for individuals are "not enough" and has called for $2000 stimulus cheques. While details of the stimulus package still to be confirmed, previous data sets indicate that it is highly likely that individuals will receive more than 7 percent of the total of the stimulus package, but the exact figure cannot be verified. We mark this claim as misleading because although we know individuals and businesses will be sharing the benefit, it's misleading to suggest that the vast majority of funds will go towards big businesses.