Courtesy of Kentucky Chamber Bottom Line

An emergency stimulus package is in the works that could send two $1,000 checks to many Americans and also devote $300 billion towards small businesses to avoid mass layoffs.

According to a report from The Washington Post, White House officials and congressional Republicans are working on a $1 trillion rescue plan.

While no final decisions have been made, the plan would seek to spend $500 billion towards the cash payments to individual Americans that would be paid out in two equal amounts beginning on April 6 and then again on May 18. The payment amounts would be fixed and tiered based on income level, the report states.

The plan also has money to rescue the airline industry and many others and contains a huge focus on small business relief.

From the Washington Post:

One of the goals of the White House’s decision to seek $300 billion for small businesses in the plan would be to help firms continue paying employees, as there has already been a wave of layoffs, particularly at restaurants and other companies where business was suddenly halted as millions of Americans began staying at home under government warnings about contagion.

These credits, which Treasury is calling “Small Business Interruption Loans,” would come with a 100 percent government guarantee. Eligible borrowers would have 500 or fewer employees, and the loan amounts would be targeted to finance six weeks of payroll, capped at $1,540 per week per employee. The loans would come from U.S. financial companies but would have U.S. government backing. The Treasury Department would have the power to issue regulations about interest rates and loan maturities.

It is unclear when such a stimulus package would be finalized and passed, as negotiations are ongoing and Congress will have to pass a bill through the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. Stay tuned to The Bottom Line for more updates on this.