President Donald Trump has signed the $2.3 trillion omnibus spending bill, which includes $900 billion in COVID-19 relief.   His action means the Government will not shut down Monday evening at midnight, and that the COVID-19 relief funds will begin flowing to the states for distribution.

This evening, the President issued a statement saying he would sign the bill.  His statement says that on Monday, the House of Representatives will vote to increase direct payments to individuals from $600 to $2,000, but it’s not clear whether the Republican-led Senate will follow suit.  He also said the Senate will consider changing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which says ““No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider” and essentially protects such companies from liability because of what others post on their sites.  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not indicated what the Senate will do, nor when.

Certain unemployment benefits lapsed yesterday, because the bill had not been signed, so some will miss a week of unemployment funding.

Hawaii should receive at least $1.7 million in COVID-19 relief, according to Senator Brian Schatz, and possibly as much as $2.5 billion.  For information on some of the provisions of the relief bill and what Hawaii should get, click here.