US COVID crisis cops a $2.5 trillion injection
WASHINGTON: The US Senate on Saturday voted to approve a $US1.9 trillion ($2.47 trillion) relief package in what President Joe Biden called a “giant step” towards reviving the pandemic-stricken American economy, capping frenzied negotiations and a marathon overnight voting session.
Passed by 50 votes to 49 in a strict party line vote, the sweeping legislation now heads back to the Democraticmajority House of Representatives, where it is expected to be adopted, barring a lastminute setback.
“I promised the American people help was on the way,” said Mr Biden in an address from the White House.
“Today, I can say we’ve taken one more giant step forward in delivering on that promise. It obviously wasn’t easy. It wasn’t always pretty. But it was so desperately needed.”
Even without the progressive priority of a minimumwage increase to $15 an hour, the stimulus bill marks a victory for Mr Biden’s Democrats as they put their stamp on the recovery from a pandemic that has killed more than 500,000 people in the US and hobbled its economy.
Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer vowed that the bill “will deliver more help to more people than anything the federal government has done in decades”. The legislation would send out $1400 stimulus checks to most Americans and allocates $350bn to state and local governments and $130bn to schools.
It would also provide about $49bn for expanded COVID testing, tracing and research, and $14bn for vaccine distribution.
Steny Hoyer, the Democratic majority leader in the House, said the chamber would take up the amended bill on Tuesday, with a view to sending it to Mr Biden for his signature early next week.
The huge bill — the second largest rescue package in US history, after last year’s $2 trillion CARES Act — almost fell apart.
Senate action was paralysed for more than 10 hours on Friday as Democrats scrambled to retain the support of their most conservative senator, Joe Manchin, who baulked at the scale of jobless benefits.
It took a call from Mr Biden and a cut in supplemental weekly unemployment insurance from $400 to $300, among other tweaks, to stop Mr Manchin defecting.