Harrisburg, Pa. (WENY)-- A $912 million dollar COVID-19 relief bill for Pennsylvania is making its way through the state Legislature. Senate Bill 109 passed the Senate Wednesday afternoon with unanimous bipartisan support. It’ll provide much-needed relief toward rental and utility assistance, education programs, and small businesses.

“This legislation now serves to drive out nearly $1 billion of assistance to our communities to address the ongoing impacts of COVID-19. Through business assistance, rental assistance, and assistance to our education community, this legislation is vitally important to drive out these dollars that are literally sitting in our state Treasury right now,” says Sen. Joe Pittman (R-Armstrong), who sponsored the bill.

The COVID-19 relief bill includes three main components. The first, and largest, provides $569 million dollars for rental and utility assistance for tenants and landlords in all 67 counties. It will utilize existing programs that counties are familiar with to make sure the rollout is as smooth as possible.

“We’ve ensured that the funding will be made available to actually pay the bills through rent and utility offsets,” says Sen. Pittman.

The second component designates $197 million dollars for education programs. The majority of that funding will be used as competitive grants for schools impacted by the pandemic. It also sends money to career and technical centers, intermediate units, charter schools for the deaf and blind, private schools, and the State System for Higher Education.

“All those that we appropriated for are given an allocation of these dollars so they can counter the effects of the pandemic on their operations and their students and their families,” says Sen. Pat Browne (R-Lehigh), who helped construct the bill.

Finally, it appropriates $145 million for small businesses, including the hospitality industry. This is the money that Governor Tom Wolf transferred from the state’s Workers’ Compensation Relief Fund. The funding would be doled out in grants of $5,000-$50,000.

“Pennsylvanians have waited long enough, and we need to move forward with getting them the resources that they need,” says Sen. Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia).

Senate Bill 109 could be voted on in the House as early as next week. If passed there, it would go to Governor Wolf for final approval.