Senate Dems sorting final details of $1.9T coronavirus relief bill
>> Democrats sorted through lingering disagreements over emergency jobless benefits and other issues Tuesday and prepared to commence Senate debate on a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan that would deliver a major victory to President Joe Biden.
With Democrats having no margin for error in the evenly split 50-50 Senate, Biden was expected to urge them on by conference call. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he planned to bring the sweeping bill to the floor as early as Wednesday, teeing up first votes on a bill aimed at energizing the nation’s battle against the pandemic and its wounded economy.
“That’s what the American people sent us here to do,” said Schumer, D-N.Y., “That’s what our government is for. Not to sit back and wait for problems to fix themselves.”
Too big to fail?
The huge package is a too-big-to-fail moment for the fledging president, who would be politically staggered if Congress — controlled narrowly by Democrats but controlled nonetheless — failed to deliver. Conquering the virus that’s killed half a million Americans and thrown the economy and countless lives into tailspins is Biden’s top initial priority.
But so far, Republicans are following the template they set in former President Barack Obama’s presidency. GOP senators seemed on track to oppose the relief bill solidly, perhaps with the unanimous “no” vote their House counterparts cast early Saturday when that chamber approved its similar version of the measure.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., accused Democrats of ignoring signs that the economy and the deadly virus’ rampage through the U.S. were beginning to turn around. He also accused Democrats of loading the bill with spending for favored constituencies, saying they were “taking advantage of the crisis to check off unrelated liberal policies.”
The Senate bill was expected to largely mirror the House-approved package. Democrats want Congress to send Biden a final version for him to sign by March 14, when an earlier round of emergency jobless benefits expires.
The details
The legislation would provide $1,400 payments to individuals plus hundreds of billions of dollars for schools and colleges, COVID-19 vaccines and testing, mass transit systems, renters and small businesses.
It also has money for child care, tax breaks for families with children and assistance for states willing to expand Medicaid coverage for low-income residents.
The House-approved bill would provide $400 weekly emergency jobless benefits, on top of state unemployment payments, through August. Some Democratic moderates including Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia want to trim that figure back to $300, arguing the higher figure would discourage people from returning to work.
The Senate bill seems certain to omit House provisions gradually hiking the federal minimum wage to $15 hourly, up from the $7.25 locked in for the past 12 years.