The latest stimulus package passed by Congress is one of the longest bills to be pushed so quickly through the Senate and the House. The final bill was handed to lawmakers just hours before they voted on it.

“This bill is too long, too complicated,” said Thea Lee, president of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

EPI expects the $900-billion package will provide an instant jolt to our economy by extending unemployment benefits and enhancing them by $300 a week. It also includes a $600 stimulus check for millions of Americans and $25 billion for housing and eviction protection.

There are hundreds of billions of dollars for Paycheck Protection Program loans, intended for small businesses. However, those touted benefits only take up a couple of pages in the nearly 5,600-page bill.

"There are things in there that don’t belong in there,” said Lee.

In fact, as more experts and government watchdog organizations start to sift through the stimulus bill, which was also tied to an ominous spending bill, the list of non-pandemic related funding and measures grows.

“Some of it is things like horse-racing commissions [funding] and so on, but some of it shouldn’t be in there because it is helping either people or businesses that don’t need the help,” Lee explained.

For example, there’s a tax break on alcohol, and Lee pointed out the alcohol industry is one that has actually thrived during the pandemic. Legislators also included a tax break for what has been dubbed the Three Martini Lunch.

“It’s a deduction for business people who are having expensive lunches out. That has been extended in this bill,” said Lee. "That is not the best way, the most targeted way to help the restaurant industry.”

For all of the non-pandemic-related measures squeezed into this latest deal, there is a surprise in what did not make it in.

“The most important thing that is not in the stimulus bill is aid to state and local governments,” said Lee. "If they don’t get enough aid from the federal government, they will have to start laying off workers.”

Another thing not in the stimulus bill was an extension on the student loan payment pause. Many student loan borrowers will have to start repaying loans in January and interest will begin accruing again.

There is also, notably, no transparency requirement tied to small business PPP loans. Watchdog organizations, like U.S. Public Interest Research Group, have been calling for it for months, given all the issues seen with the first round of PPP loan funding.

"The Department of Justice has actually indicted 57 people so far from stealing over $175 million from the PPP loan program,” said RJ Cross with U.S. PIRG.

Also, lawsuits filed by several news organizations forced the Small Business Administration to reveal more names of companies that have received the forgivable loans. The result has shown that most of the PPP loans issued in the first round, more than $250 billion, went to larger than intended business. The smallest businesses, in which the loans were intended for, actually struggled to get the funding they needed.

U.S. PIRG has fought for months to get transparency requirements tied to PPP loan money to prevent further fraud and corruption in the program, and the group was surprised that was not included in this latest stimulus package.

“If folks are very clear on the fact that information about their loans, their application, and their businesses will be made public, it helps to deter a lot of fraudsters in the beginning,” Cross added. “Congress largely squandered that opportunity to strengthen those measures that would increase public trust in the PPP program.”

Congress is expected to immediately begin working on yet another stimulus bill in January and could address some of the concerns with this latest bill.

"I hope that Congress can come back in 2021 and take up the elements that are missing from this bill,” said Lee.

A lifeline for an estimated 7.5 million people is set to run out.

Enhanced and pandemic-related unemployment benefits expire on Monday, Sept. 6.

This as COVID cases and hospitalizations continue to rise due to the delta variant.

About 800,000 New York City residents will stop receiving the benefits after Sept. 6, according to a study released this week by the New School’s Center for New York City Affairs.

The loss of benefits also comes as the nationwide ban on evictions is over.

Last week, the Supreme Court knocked down the CDC’s federal eviction moratorium.

It was expected to be in place through October 3.

President Biden has urged states with high unemployment rates to keep the enhanced $300 weekly benefit program going.

However, no state leaders have announced plans for an extension.

This story was originally reported by Axel Turcios on Newsy.com.

CINCINNATI — After Monique Colbert was scammed out of her unemployment benefits, the juicer she used for her side gig broke, but now things are looking up for her.

Matt Damschroder, the director of Ohio Job and Family Services, said they are looking into ways to get unemployment benefits back to people who were scammed out of theirs.

"We are actively researching ways that we can provide these victims of these schemes with the benefits that they're entitled to," Damschroder said.

While Colbert waited to get her benefits back, though, PURE Juicer offered her a discount on their best juicer, and then people who saw her previous story offered to pay for the machine.

"Oh, my God, I'm like speechless," Colbert said when she was presented with her new juicer.

With her new juicer and granddaughter Brooklyn and nephew Shawn, Colbert said her juicing business is ready to crush it.

"I got exactly what I need, so this is a big major part of helping me succeed," she said. "I just want to say thank you to everybody because I am so grateful and I am so appreciative. This is really going to help me be able to help you and help other people in the community."

COLUMBUS, Ohio — We aren't breaking any news by telling you that restaurant owners have struggled over the course of the last year and a half.

Health orders first shut them down and when they re-opened, finding the staff became challenging.

"A lot of those more senior servers did not come back," Nick Taylor, the General Manager at Oscars restaurant in Dublin, Ohio said during a recent interview.

Similar beliefs are shared by Bob Szuter, who owns Wolf's Ridge Brewery in downtown Columbus, Ohio.

"Right now we can’t open for two of the days that we normally would be," Szuter said.

You might not live here. But there is a good chance restaurant owners and small businesses near you feel the exact same way.

In June, job openings nationwide were at 9.2 million. A new record.

Many restaurant and brewery owners are having to resort to something many have never done before: sign-on bonuses.

"$250 bucks for a cook and we’ve paid those," Szuter said.

WHAT IS THE REASON?

For months, the complaint from many conservative leaders is that Congress is giving workers too much money.

Since the pandemic began, $3,200 in stimulus checks have been handed out.

Additionally, $300 weekly enhanced unemployment benefits are being distributed until early September for those states who opt-in.

Not to mention, monthly child tax credit payments are going out to workers with child dependents for the rest of the year.

Nationwide, many Republican governors concluded those $300/week bonus unemployment benefits were to blame for low numbers of job applicants.

So far, 26 states have either ended the bonus cash before the federal end date or attempted to end them before a lawsuit was filed.

IMPACT OF ENDING BENEFITS

Is cutting the enhanced benefits actually bringing people back to work?

Well, the answer depends on who ask.

Both Taylor and Szuter work in a state where those bonus benefits ended nearly a month ago.

"Prior to that, I would say I would post an advertisement and get 1-2 responses now I get 4 a day, so I think people are coming back to work," Taylor said.

Szuter however disagrees.

"We never bought into that and didn’t expect a flood of resumes, and we haven’t seen that," Szuter said.

"Right now we could absolutely hire five people in the kitchen," Szuter said.

He says many of his most dependable employees have simply moved on, using the extra cash and time off to gain new skills.

"One cook that did work for us is working in an auto repair shop making a lot more money," Szuter said.

Economists from Oxford Economics and Goldman Sachs have found only a “marginal effect” of ending these unemployment benefits early, although the benefits haven't been suspended in many states for a long period of time.

However, the lack of data suggests the labor market may be a bit more complex than before.

"It’s changing the demographics of the workplace," Roger Geiger with the National Federation of Independent Business said.

Geiger represents small businesses across Ohio and he says companies that have created more work-from-home opportunities have likely hurt businesses that need workers to report in person.

"You gotta have people at that restaurant, at the car wash," Geiger said.

"Part of it is people have child care issues. People have their own personal concerns about where they are in the pandemic," Geiger added.

As the economy attempts to rebound, many people, including President Joe Biden, have suggested the issue is workers aren't being paid enough.

However, Taylor and Szuter say there are limits for how much they can afford to pay employees.

"I don’t want to be the restaurant that charges 40 dollars for a steak," Taylor said.

"Trying to start an economy from a coma is tough," Szuter added.

COLUMBUS, Ohio —

The state of Ohio will stop participating in the federal government's supplemental benefits program, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday.

That program, which gives an extra $300 a week to the jobless, will end on June 26, the governor said.

The supplement has been available since 2020, part of the pandemic stimulus measures passed by Congress. It was made available through Sept. 6.

"Early in the pandemic, Congress put in place the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program to help Americans get through the most difficult economic days of the crisis," the governor said.

"When this program was put in place, it was a lifeline for many Americans at a time when the only weapon we had in fighting the virus was to slow it’s spread through social distancing, masking and sanitization. That is no longer the case. That is no longer our only tool in this fight. This assistance was always intended to be temporary."

The governor attributed his decision to labor shortages in many sectors, saying the June 26 deadline will give people who fear going back to work enough time to receive the vaccination.

Ohio's regular state unemployment is still available.

Ohio joins a list growing list of states who have announced they would drop the program.

Montana was first to announce they were ending the benefits on May 4. Since then, it has been a domino effect, with Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wyoming following suit.

This is a breaking news story. WLWT will update this story as details become available.