What a relief — bill advances
The $1.9 trillion relief package that cleared the U.S. Senate over the weekend was notable not only for its girth, but for its refreshing reversal of the way Washington had been using to stimulate the economy. Instead of big tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy, this measure embraced the progressive concept that genuine recovery comes from the bottom up.
This approach does carry an element of risk that the consumer spending generated by a huge infusion of cash into Americans’ pockets could cause the economy to overheat to the point that it results in inflation. But there are no guarantees for any economic theory, and there is no question that many unemployed and lowincome people are hurting during the pandemic, and the bill passed by the Senate is calibrated to help them instead of the beneficiaries of the comparably sized, topweighted tax cuts of the Trump era.
The bill now goes to the House of Representatives to consider the Senate changes, and it is expected to pass as early as Tuesday. President Biden would then sign it into effect.
For all the stalling tactics by Senate Republicans — and centrist Democrat Joe Manchin, flexing his power in the evenly split chamber — the Senate made relatively few modifications to the version passed by the House. It tossed out a provision to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour on a procedural vote, leaving Democrats to reengage that fight another day, as they should. Beyond that, it lowered the income cap for $1,400 payments to $75,000 for an individual and $150,000 for a married couple and reduced enhanced unemployment payments (a Manchin demand) from $400 to $300 a week through Sept. 6. But the Senate proved more generous than the House in covering 100% (instead of 85%) of premiums for workers who lost their health coverage along with their jobs; and exempted any yettobeapproved student loan forgiveness from income taxes through 2025.
Other key provisions that were included in both versions include tax credits for lowincome Americans with children, higher subsidies for child care, expanded eligibility under the Affordable Care Act, more money for food stamps and rent, utility and mortgage assistance. The 600plus page bill also would provide nearly $100 billion for pandemicrelated programs, including vaccine distribution and testing and tracing.
Republican objections to the package focused both on policy — many wanted less spending overall, with a higher proportion targeted to hardhit businesses — and on process. They complained that Democrats who control the White House and both houses of Congress showed little interest in serious negotiation. The Senate’s 5049 passage was achieved without a single Republican vote.
Progressive Democrats may be frustrated with the removal of the minimum wage and the curtailment of various benefits from the original proposal, but the reality is that there is no reasonable hope of getting a more robust deal in a deeply polarized environment where losing even a single moderate Senate Democrat could doom a bill.
Polls have shown the relief bill draws strong support, and its expected passage would be a significant but conditioned victory for Biden, who had pushed for a package of this scale. On the downside, it’s clear that Biden’s oftstated determination to use his engaging personal style and senatorial experience to usher in a new era of bipartisan cooperation is proving elusive.
The honeymoon for Biden is not over; it simply never began.
But the upside for Americans struggling to stay financially afloat is that help is on the way after enduring a treacherous course through Republican resistance.