If it makes it to his desk, Mr. Biden – who made the US rescue plan his top legislative priority – could sign the historic bill into law by the end of the week.
President Joe Biden’s massive relief plan is on the verge of clearing Congress with a final vote on Wednesday, offering a lifeline for millions of American families and businesses and stimulating an economy that is being digested by the coronovirus epidemic.
Democratic leaders said the $ 1.9 trillion package, widely popular with Americans and approved by the Senate over the weekend, heads the House for possible passage days before a significant deadline, and the cost and scope of the measure But a week-long conversation concludes.
If it makes it to his desk, Mr. Biden – who made the US rescue plan his top legislative priority – could sign the historic bill into law by the end of the week.
But the plan, which funds COVID-19 vaccines, preserves unemployment benefits for millions of people, and sends relief checks of up to $ 1,400 to most Americans, much less Democratic defenders can.
All Republicans are appearing in lockstep against the package, and a Democrat, enjoying the smallest majority in years in the 435-seat House of Representatives, Mr. Biden’s party can get a maximum of four Democratic no votes.
In an effort to drive home how it helps the economy, Mr. Biden on Tuesday visited a business bill as Washington’s oldest hardware store, a paycheck protection program launched under Donald Trump’s administration Has benefited from helping businesses survive during crises.
“We’re going to continue this,” Mr. Biden said of the PPP as he interacted with the store’s employees.
Mr Biden’s administration will push the program forward so that it focuses on businesses with 20 employees or less, with the president saying that “400,000 small businesses went out of business” during the year-long epidemic.
The final congressional plan to fight the coronovirus, which to date had left more than 524,000 dead in the United States and brought the economy to its knees, was enacted in December.
It expanded unemployment payments to $ 300 a week, and extended them to 14 March.
‘Remarkable, historical’
Mr. Biden and the congressional Democrats drafted their latest package, but it appears they will complete it and extend the gains by early September.
The House was considering Tuesday’s vote but the complexities of finalizing the steps on such a massive bill pushed the process through on Wednesday.
One of the bill’s key champions, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, told reporters, “This is a remarkable, historical, transformative piece of legislation that goes a long way to crush the virus and solve our economic crisis.”
“It’s very exciting because you know what it does: vaccines in the arms of the American people, money in their pockets, children in schools safely, employees back at work safely.”
The bill funds Kovid vaccine distribution and research, rains billions in state and local governments, continues eviction and foreclosure moratoriums, extends food aid and child tax credits, and sets aside $ 130 billion for schools.
Democrats had requested a minimum wage increase of $ 15 an hour, a provision supported by Mr. Biden, but it was removed from the bill when it was disqualified under Senate rules.
Progressive Democrats also pushed for higher supplemental unemployment benefits of $ 400, but after a last-minute deadlock with a moderate Democrat, the Senate put the payout at $ 300.
With the prospect of passage of the bill, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Tuesday sharply raised the 2021 global growth forecast amid improving economic prospects.
The OECD says it now expects the global economy to grow by 1.4 percentage points from its December forecast, with a growth of 5.6%.
“A report said that the gradual deployment of effective vaccines in recent months has been helped by announcements of effective fiscal vaccine, additional fiscal support in some countries, and an indication that the economy is coping better.”
The OECD now sees the US economy climbing 6.5% this year, an increase of 3.3 percentage points from its previous forecast.
But Republicans continued to protest. Number two House Republican Steve Scalise said Democrats are “advancing a socialist agenda” while “bankrupting the next generation with mountains of debt.”
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