The House’s Ways and Features Committee voted to approve a section of President Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion stimulus plan, including $ 1,400 stimulus checks on Thursday.
The panel approved a portion of the package worth hundreds of billions of dollars, the majority consisting of direct payments, in a vote of 24 to 18 according to party lines, after two days of debate on the legislation. The proposal now goes to the Chamber’s Budget Committee. If it passes the House in a plenary vote that is expected later this month, Democrats in the Senate can approve the proposal without any Republican support in the budget reconciliation process.
“In the past two days, the Ways and Means Committee has considered aggressive science-based solutions that will provide the urgent relief that our country so badly needs,” Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), Chairman of the committee said in a communicated. “From unemployment insurance to accessibility to health insurance, the work we have done is substantial and it is exactly what the American people have been asking us to do in this moment.”
“To my colleagues on the Committee, the incredible staff of the Committee and many others who have worked around the clock to make this happen, thank you for putting the American people first and showing them that help is on the way,” continued Neal. “I look forward to this package being approved by Congress and President Biden sanctioning it.”
The part of the stimulus package that the commission put forward involved taxation. All bills dealing with taxes must go through the Forms and Means Committee before being put to the vote in plenary. In addition to the $ 1,400 stimulus checks, advanced legislation includes increasing federal unemployment benefits from $ 300 to $ 400 a week and increasing tax credits for children. It also includes expanded tax credits involving healthcare and financing to help nursing homes combat COVID-19.
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Earlier this week, Democrats confirmed that the bill would require checks of $ 1,400 to be given to individuals who earn $ 75,000 or less a year and couples who earn $ 150,000 a year. Payments would be reduced for those who exceed income limits, before being eliminated entirely for individuals who earn more than $ 100,000 and couples who earn more than $ 200,000.
Recent disagreements over income limits have led to considerable debate between Democrats and Republicans, with some moderate Democrats also favoring a more “targeted” approach to the distribution of payments. Both previously approved stimulus checks had revenue limits similar to the current proposal. Lawmakers quickly rejected a Republican proposal that would have reduced the limit to $ 40,000 for individuals and $ 80,000 for couples, while reducing the benefit amount to $ 1,000.
Newsweek contacted Congressman Kevin Brady (R-Texas), a member of the Forms and Means Committee’s GOP ranking, for comment.