House to Vote on $1.9 trillion stimulus package

The House on Monday agreed to vote on the $1.9 trillion stimulus package this week after weeks of back-and-forth from the past and current administrations.  

The bill was advanced in a 19-16 vote by the chamber’s Budget Committee. Democrats are in a hurry to beat the March 14 deadline for the extension of key unemployment programs. They also hope to pass the proposal via budget reconciliation which would allow the party to achieve its goal without support from Republicans.

“We’re going to meet that deadline,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. He added that the new bill may not necessarily be the same as the previous one, “but very close to the bill that President Biden proposed.”

The proposed bill includes:

• Weekly $400 unemployment insurance supplement through August 29

• Expansion of COVID-19-related jobless claims to gig-workers and self-employed workers through August 29

• Direct payment of $1,400 to every individual that makes up to $75,000 and couples that jointly earn up to $150,000

• Household reliefs of up to $3,600 per child above one year

• Increment of minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025

• $20 billion to support an upcoming national vaccination program

• $170 billion allocated to higher education institutions and K-12 schools to help them safely reopen

• $350 billion in support allocated to state, local, and tribal governments

The proposed bill will first pass through the House Rules Committee before it is sent to the House floor, where House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) and Democrats hope to vote and pass it this weekend.

“Without additional resources, we will never get where we need to be,” said John Yarmuth, (D-Ky), House Budget Committee Chairman, at the markup hearing on Monday. “We aren’t going to wait. We are going to pass this legislation and we are going to turn this pandemic and economic crisis around.”

As the Democrats continue to plan around the $1.9 trillion package, as they insist that a lesser amount would slow down economic recovery, Republicans have questioned the need for another large stimulus package. Although many Republicans support government funding to boost Covid-19 vaccination.

A top Republican on the Budget Committee, Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri said the plan was wrong on all levels. He noted that some of the monetary items listed on the bill will not go into effect until the following fiscal year, and some money from the previous stimulus package remains untouched.

Senate Democrats and Republicans will meet with the Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough this week to make their arguments on the bill, including the minimum wage.

U.S. President Joe Biden has said he would rather pass the bill without any GOP support than continue the back-and-forth negotiation, and eventually settle for a smaller plan to please the Republicans.

“Critics say the plan is too big,” Biden said on Monday. “Let me ask them a rhetorical question: What would you have me cut? What would you leave out?” Adding that he is open to hearing suggestions on how to make the bill “better and cheaper” but it clearly needs to be stated “who we’re helping and who it would hurt.”

Millions of Americans have fallen into poverty due to Congress’s indecision to agree and renew the pandemic-related unemployment programs which expired last summer.