December 4, 2020 – This week the Federal Reserve Board and Treasury Department announced a three-month extension of several funding facilities, including the Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility.  Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of senators proposed a $908 billion stimulus package that represents a compromise between proposals announced by Democratic and Republican congressional leadership in previous months.

Regulatory Developments Relating to the Pandemic

Four Lending Facilities Extended Through March 31, 2020

On November 30, the Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury Department announced an extension through March 31, 2021of several of their lending facilities that were generally scheduled to expire on or around December 31. The extensions apply to the Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility, the Commercial Paper Funding Facility, the Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility, and the Primary Dealer Credit Facility.  However, five other facilities that are not subject to the extension will lapse at the end of the 2020 calendar year: the Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility, the Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility, the Municipal Liquidity Facility, the Main Street Lending Program, and the Term Asset-Back Securities Loan Facility.


Legislative Proposals

New Stimulus Proposal

On December 2, 2020, Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Rob Portman (R-OH), Mark Warner (D-VA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Angus King (I-ME) and other members of the bipartisan “Problem Solvers Caucus” announced a new $908 billion economic stimulus proposal that would include $300 weekly enhanced federal unemployment benefits for four months, $160 billion in state and local aid, and pandemic-related liability protections for businesses in the short term. The proposal would not include another round of stimulus checks. 

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