Families First Coronavirus Response Act

Mar. 18, 2020 | H.R. 6201

This was the second bill to respond to the growing COVID-19 pandemic. H.R. 6201 would encourage working people to seek testing for infection by making the tests free for most people covered by employment-based insurance, Medicare or Medicaid; mandates that workers who are sick or affected by quarantine receive up to 14 paid sick days and up to 12 weeks of paid leave per year. H.R. 6201 also would take steps to improve access to food by expanding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Women, Infant and Children (WIC) program and the school lunch program. Recognizing that the current federal unemployment insurance (UI) program would not be able to provide sufficient support for states to meet the needs of workers, the package would provide additional funding for states. This bill passed the Senate on March 18, 2020, and was signed into law that same day.

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