The House is expected to pass a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 stimulus package later Friday and send President Joe Biden’s relief plan to the Senate.
Both chambers aim to approve the bill and send it to Biden’s desk before March 14, when key programs buoying millions of jobless Americans expire. Pitfalls await in the Senate, where a single Democratic vote against the plan would sink it and a decision barring lawmakers from including a $15 per hour minimum wage threw a wrench in the process.
Democrats, wielding narrow control of Congress, opted to pass the legislation through budget reconciliation. The process enables them to approve the bill without Republican votes in the Senate but also restricts what lawmakers can include in it.
The plan contains:
- A $400 per week unemployment insurance supplement and an extension of programs expanding jobless benefits to millions more Americans through Aug. 29
- $1,400 direct payments to most Americans and the same sum for dependents
- $20 billion for a national Covid-19 vaccination program and $50 billion for testing
- $350 billion for state, local and tribal government relief
- Payments to families of up to $3,600 per child over a year
- $170 billion to K-12 schools and higher education institutions to cover reopening costs and student aid
- An increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025
While economists tend to agree that additional stimulus would provide workers with a robust safety net as the economy recovers — not to mention accelerate GDP growth — they disagree over the necessity of a bill as large as $1.9 trillion.
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