Wild champions bill: ‘We didn’t have the option of going small’
The latest COVID-19 relief package absolutely warranted $1.9 trillion in additional spending to ensure a more equal economic recovery, reopened schools and accelerated vaccine distribution, the Lehigh Valley’s congresswoman says.
U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, D-7th District, on Wednesday joined 219 of her Democratic colleagues in approving the 628-page bill, which now awaits President Joe Biden’s signature. Not a single Republican voted in favor of it.
Among other provisions, the bill provides many Americans with up to $1,400 in direct payments and extends $300-per-week emergency unemployment benefits into early September. It includes more rental and utility assis
tance, plus funding for schools, public health, and state and local government aid. It also features a per-child cash payment of at least $3,000 for at least one year, expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies and relief for small businesses and restaurants.
Republicans have lambasted the package as unnecessarily expansive. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania called it a “liberal wish list,” and lamented that Biden and the Democrats rejected a $600 billion plan proposed by Republican senators.
But a more modest package would have left far too many people behind, particularly after a still Republican-led senate dragged its feet over the second half of 2020 passing what was ultimately a $900 billion stimulus package, Wild argued.
“We didn’t have the option of going small,” she said. “It would have been just as much of a challenge to get it passed, and it wouldn’t have done what we needed it to do for the American people . ... We need to get people back on their health insurance, back in their jobs, and children back in school. That is how we are going to recover economically.”
Americans will remember for a long time to come that “it was Democrats who delivered this rescue package,” she added.
The relief package is popular. According to a CNN poll released Wednesday, the bill has the backing of 61% of Americans, including nearly all Democrats, 58% of independents and 26% of Republicans. A Pew Research Center poll released Tuesday found even greater support — 70% of all U.S. adults.
Many economists support it, too. According to a Moody’s forecast, the plan could spur the addition of more than 7 million jobs this year. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal predict annual growth of nearly 6%, up a full percentage point from projections last month. The economy hasn’t grown that much since 1983.
But others, including former Democratic Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, are worried that this stimulus could lead to rising inflation and, consequently, higher interest rates that dampen economic recovery. He also expressed concern that the spending, which represents about 15% of the nation’s GDP, crowds out additional nonemergency public investments promised by Biden on the campaign trail.
Deficit hawks, meanwhile, continue to wonder about the implications of a soaring national debt. The Congressional Budget Office anticipates the public’s share of the national debt will represent 107% of GDP within a decade.
Dan Meuser, R-9th District, noted Wednesday that Congress passed $3.7 trillion in relief bills over the past year even before this latest package. Among other things, he criticized an additional $350 billion in state aid on top of $500 billion previously allocated despite better-thanprojected 2020 tax revenue collection in many locales. Not enough of the spending, he added, is focused on core issues like vaccine rollout.
“When we should be focused on economic recovery, getting our children back to school, and vaccine distribution, Democrats are intent on passing legislation that caters to special interests, while also enormously expanding our national debt and the role of the federal government in our lives,” Meuser said in a statement.
Wild praised many aspects of the plan, including $130 billion for K-12 schools and another $40 billion for higher education institutions. Given inequality among schools, there’s no one-size-fitsall approach to reopening, she said, and now each district will have ample resources to address their specific needs.
Throughout the pandemic, Wild has called for greater relief specifically for the restaurant industry. She was pleased that the latest relief bill includes nearly $29 billion in direct aid.
She also highlighted the likelihood that the enhanced child tax credit will “lift children out of poverty across the country.”
“I don’t how you can possibly overstate that,” she said. “Both sides of the aisle talk about family values and how important it is to lift children up, make sure they have food in their stomachs before they go to school, and have good living conditions. I think this is truly transformative.”
The final bill does not include a House-approved federal minimum-wage increase to $15 hourly by 2025. Wild said she expects congressional Democrats to revive the measure as a standalone bill down the road, and argued that Republicans representing areas where the minimum wage remains $7.25 should support the gradual increase.