Eleven Senate Democrats are pushing President Joe Biden to put recurring direct payments and enhanced jobless benefits in the economic recovery plan he will try to pass this year.
In a letter to the president announced Tuesday, the lawmakers said Congress should not cut off additional support to workers while the economy recovers from Covid. Though the senators did not say how large they want the payments to be or how often they want them to come, they said they hope the aid will phase out only as the job market improves.
„This crisis is far from over, and families deserve certainty that they can put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads,“ the senators wrote. „Families should not be at the mercy of constantly-shifting legislative timelines and ad hoc solutions.“
Biden is expected to outline his recovery plan in the coming weeks after Congress passes Democrats‘ $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. The proposal is expected to include plans to revamp U.S. infrastructure and boost manufacturing as the country tries to regain its footing after the pandemic.
The 11 senators believe households will also need more direct aid to get to the other side of the crisis. The letter was backed by Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Senate Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, D-Mass., Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
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