WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden plans to sign two executive orders on Friday to address the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic, including expanding food stamps and starting the process to demand that everyone working for the federal government receive a minimum wage of $ 15 an hour.
National Economic Council director Brian Deese said the orders, which increase the huge amount that Biden has already approved, “are not a substitute” for Covid-19’s massive $ 1.9 trillion aid project that Biden expects Congress to approve, but rather a “critical lifeline” for millions of Americans who need help now.
“The American people cannot wait. Many are hanging on,” he said.
Biden’s “whole government” effort will ask the Department of Agriculture to increase a Covid-19 food assistance program by 15 percent that provides nutritional assistance to families with children who would normally receive free or reduced lunches when schools are open. in regular sessions, as well as expanding the emergency increase in the benefits of the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program, authorized by Congress, to include those with lower incomes.
The order will also ask the Treasury Department to update its process of issuing direct payments after several qualified Americans reported problems and delays in obtaining the first two rounds of stimulus checks last year, an obstacle that Biden hopes to avoid with the inclusion of the third round of payments into your relief account.
Biden will also ask the Department of Labor to allow workers who refuse employment because of health risk concerns to qualify for unemployment benefits. The order will create a coordination system between federal agencies to help people better navigate the assistance benefits for which they qualify.
The second executive order that Biden must sign will revoke orders signed by former President Donald Trump to restore collective bargaining power and ask federal agencies to pay a minimum wage of $ 15 an hour.
Biden will also begin planning to require federal contractors to pay a minimum wage of $ 15 and provide paid emergency leave.
Biden inherits a deeply damaged economy, with some 900,000 Americans applying for unemployment insurance last week, according to the first job market data released under his presidency. Coronavirus deaths in the country exceeded 400,000.
Biden has signed a series of executive orders since taking office on Wednesday to quickly reverse some Trump-era policies as well as fight the coronavirus.
On Thursday, Biden signed an executive order requiring people to wear masks at airports and on planes, trains and sea vessels. He also instructed the agencies to use their powers, including the Defense Production Act, to accelerate the production of scarce items.
Aides said more executive action is expected in the coming days and weeks.
