President Biden asked the Senate to act quickly to approve his American Rescue Plan, hours after the House strictly approved the $ 1.9 trillion legislation. In brief comments on Saturday morning, Biden said he spoke with spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi about approving the project.
“Now, the bill goes to the United States Senate, where I hope it gets quick action. We have no time to lose,” said Biden. “If we act now, decisively, quickly and boldly, we can finally overcome this virus. We can finally get our economy moving again. And the people of this country have suffered too much for a long time. We need to alleviate that suffering. The American Rescue Plan does just that. “
Two Democrats, Kurt Schrader of Oregon and Jared Golden of Maine, voted with Republicans in the 219-212 vote on Saturday morning. No Republicans voted for the bill. The legislation includes $ 1,400 in direct checks for Americans earning less than $ 75,000, an additional $ 400 weekly unemployment bonus, money for vaccine distribution and funding to help state and local schools and governments.
The House bill also includes a clause that raises the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour by 2025, although the Senate congressman decided that the bill could not include an increase in the federal minimum wage if Congress used the reconciliation process budget. Congressional Democrats opted to use the procedural maneuver known as budgetary reconciliation to approve the bill, allowing it to be passed by only a simple majority in the Senate.
In the wake of the parliamentary decision, Senate Democrats are now rushing to finalize a new fiscal provision this would penalize large companies that pay low wages. The plan being drafted by advisers to Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon – in consultation with Senate budget chairman Bernie Sanders of Vermont – would impose a 5% fine on the payroll. payment for “very large” companies that do not pay workers a certain amount.
Congressional Democrats hope to bring the finished package to Biden’s table in mid-March, before the end of several critical aid programs that were set up by Congress at the end of last year.