President Biden signed two executive orders on Friday, one of which would increase federal food assistance and streamline the delivery of stimulus checks, while the president tries to stabilize the economy without Congressional help amid the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We need to act now,” said Biden in comments before signing the orders. “We can’t, we won’t let people go hungry.”
Mr. Biden proposed a $ 1.9 trillion aid plan to Congress, but it is not clear whether it will get enough Republican support to pass on a bipartisan basis. Until Congress is able to pass another relief bill, Biden’s actions are intended to be interim measures to stabilize the economy.
Some Republicans questioned whether there is still a need for a second major relief bill after Congress passed a $ 900 billion bill in December. But in his comments on Friday, Biden said the most recent aid project was just an “initial payment”.
“We need more actions and we need to act quickly,” said Biden. “We are in a national emergency. We need to act as if we are in a national emergency. Therefore, we have to move forward with everything we have.”
In the first request, Mr. Biden asks the US Department of Agriculture to allow states to extend the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits – commonly known as food stamps – by 15%. Congress recently passed a $ 1 trillion relief bill that increased the maximum SNAP benefit by 15%, but that did not help the 40% of SNAP beneficiaries who were already at maximum benefit. Biden’s order tells the USDA to “consider issuing new guidelines that would allow states to increase SNAP emergency allocations for those who need it most,” according to a White House bulletin, which would mean another 12 million. people to get enhanced benefits.
The order would also increase Pandemic-EBT, an electronic debit card program for students who would be eligible to receive free or reduced price meals at school. Mr. Biden is instructing the USDA to “consider issuing new guidelines increasing the benefits of P-EBT by approximately 15% to accurately reflect the costs of missed meals and make it easier for families to claim benefits.” According to the White House, this could provide a family with three children with an additional $ 100 a month.
According to the order, the USDA would also reevaluate the Economic Meal Plan, the basis for determining the benefits of SNAP. According to the White House report, the plan “is out of date with the economic reality that most families face when trying to buy and prepare healthy food.”
Due to the economic consequences of the pandemic, more American families have struggled to put food on the table the past few months. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a non-partisan research institute, reported that almost one in five adults with children reported that their families sometimes or often did not have enough to eat in the past seven days, according to data collected from the USDA between December 9-21. Black and Latino adults are also more than twice as likely to report that their families do not get enough to eat than white families.
Increasing the benefits of SNAP would also help the economy in crisis. During an economic crisis, more individuals tend to enroll in SNAP. Those enrolled spend this federal aid, which in turn generates income for those who produce, transport and sell food. A 2019 analysis by the USDA Economic Research Service found that a $ 1 billion increase in SNAP benefits could increase the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by $ 1.54 billion and support almost 14,000 jobs.
Biden’s request also aims to expedite the delivery of stimulus checks to those who have not yet received their direct payments. Congress passed a bill to provide $ 600 in direct payments to Americans who earn below a certain threshold last month. Biden, who supports raising payments to $ 2,000, will also ask Congress to pass legislation that provides additional direct checks for $ 1,400.
Mr. Biden also issued a second executive order to improve the bargaining power and protection of federal workers, and instructed the Office of Personnel Management to develop recommendations for raising the minimum wage for federal employees to $ 15 an hour.