Overcoming accusations of waste in Republican protests and “emergency” packages, House Democrats on Friday night approved President Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill.
Passed the American Rescue Planning Act 219 to 212, not a Republican vote.
Two Democrats, Jared Golden of Maine and Kurt Schrader of Oregon, voted against the measure, which gives $ 1,400 incentive checks to adults with annual incomes of $ 75,000 or less.
Republicans have complained that the act was packed with pork unrelated to the epidemic, adding to the national debt and potential inflation.
But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) announced at an evening press conference that “this is a brilliant piece of legislation.”
Republicans unsuccessfully proposed to withdraw $ 140 million for an underground rail line connecting the San Francisco area, which Pelosi represents, to Silicon Valley. A proposal to reclaim those funds for mental health grants for children suffering from the epidemic failed.
The bill includes $ 1,400 incentive checks for adults earning up to $ 75,000 per year, small checks for high earners and nothing for people earning more than $ 100,000. For each dependent child, the bill authorizes an additional $ 1,400 payment.
For parents, it entitles a $ 3,600 annual tax credit per child under age 6 and $ 3,000 per child until age 17. Those funds are also earned for more than $ 75,000 or $ 150,000 joint filers.
A bill of less than four incomes for a family of 150,000 can exceed $ 14,000. Analysis from CNBC.
Other provisions include $ 350 billion for state and local governments. New York City is expected to receive about $ 5.6 billion if the bill passes. The state government will receive about $ 12.7 billion, on the assumption
Rape released by Caroline Maloney (D-NY).
The bill for K-12 schools includes $ 129 billion, but the Congressional Budget Office estimates that about 95 percent will not be spent in 2021, because the money approved for schools was not spent last year.
The bill includes $ 75 billion for vaccination, testing and other epidemic medical supplies. And it adds $ 7.2 billion to the paycheck protection program, which allows small businesses to be eligible for payroll and overhead loans. The PPP program was remodeled in December with $ 484 billion in new funds.
It authorizes a $ 400 per week federal unemployment insurance subsidy through August.
The bill has a minimum wage increase of $ 15 per hour, which would not be allowed in the Senate version of the bill – meaning the House would have to ratify the bill twice before it could reach the bill’s desk.
The White House and Democrats in Congress argued that even without much Republican support on Capitol Hill, the bill could be considered bipartisan.
Rep. Sean Shawnee (D-NY) said, “As you step out of the Republican caucus room, it is important not to miss the widespread bipartisan support for this package.”
“It’s not just the Republican caucus that matters – it’s the millions of Republican voters who have said they support the legislation, 75 percent of the American public,” Maloney said before the vote.
But House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) said the bill was largely unnecessary, pointing to a $ 40 billion government budget despite recently reporting a $ 40 billion budget surplus to the California government .
“95 percent of the money in this bill is not scheduled to be spent for another year, creating more uncertainty for families,” McCarthy said on Friday.
“And in fact, less than 9 percent of the bill will be used to fund public health.”
Democrats intend to send Biden the bill for his signature by mid-March when the weekly unemployment supplement of $ 300 expires. The bill can pass an evenly divided Senate by a majority and there are no Republican votes under special budget reconciliation rules that circumvent the simple 60-vote supremacy required to pass the bill.
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