U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN IS ON THE CUSP OF HIS FIRST LEGISLATIVE WIN WITH THE HOUSE READY TO GIVE FINAL PASSAGE TO HIS COVID-19 RELIEF PLAN, THE SECOND-BIGGEST STIMULUS IN U.S. HISTORY.
Biden close to first big legislative win
U.S. President Joe Biden is on the cusp of his first legislative win with the House ready to give final passage to his US$1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan, the second-biggest economic stimulus in U.S. history.
After the Senate passed the legislation on a partyline 50-49 vote on Saturday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said it will be taken up in his chamber on Tuesday. Although some liberal House members have complained about changes made by the Senate to ensure the support of moderate Democrats, progressives brushed off the concessions as minor.
“Despite the fact that we believe any weakening of the House provisions were bad policy and bad politics, the reality is that the final amendments were relatively minor concessions,” said Congressional Progressive Caucus chairwoman Pramila Jayapal.
Enactment would set the stage for work this spring on Biden's plan for a massive infrastructure and manufacturing recovery bill. Democrats also are counting on the injection of stimulus to accelerate the economy long before they face voters in the 2022 midterm elections.
“As tough as this moment is, there are brighter days ahead — there really are,” Biden told reporters at the White House after the Senate vote.
The bill would provide the biggest health-care expansion since the Affordable Care Act, a temporary plan aimed at slashing the child poverty rate, and send US$1,400 payments to millions of Americans. In addition, state and local governments are set to get more than US$350 billion in aid, and schools will get an infusion of funding, all of which Democrats hope will propel the economy forward.
“Once the plan is signed into law, I am confident that Americans will be met by a strong economy when we make it to the other side of the pandemic,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement on Saturday.
The bill will also deliver US$300 a week in extra unemployment assistance through Sept. 6, and make the first US$10,200 of unemployment insurance benefits non-taxable for households with incomes of less than US$150,000. The legislation includes US$160 billion for vaccine and testing programs to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. The Senate also adopted a bipartisan amendment from Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia to direct US$800 million toward alleviating youth homelessness.
Overall, the legislation is double the size of the Obama-era stimulus from the 2008-09 recession.It's eclipsed in size only by the US$2.2 trillion pandemic aid plan passed a year ago under President Donald Trump.