The package includes direct aid to small businesses, $ 1,400 direct checks for Americans earning less than $ 75,000 a year, an increase in child tax credit, direct financing for state and local governments and more money for vaccine distribution. The project also includes funding for secondary and higher schools.
However, for any package to become law, it must be approved by both the House and the Senate. In the Senate, Democratic and Republican officials will meet Tuesday with parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough to discuss whether the $ 15 minimum wage is allowed in the budgetary reconciliation process, which would allow the package to pass with only 50 votes, against 60 votes. MacDonough’s decision will determine the outcome of the next steps in Biden’s stimulus package and whether a minimum wage increase will be included.
SEE ALSO | List of what’s in the Democratic stimulus package: 3rd stimulus check, unemployment benefits and more
The House Budget Committee’s vote on Monday was from 19 to 16, with a Democrat, Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas, joining Republicans in voting against the aid package. However, Doggett’s spokesman said in a statement that the vote against the package was an accident and that Doggett “supports the COVID-19 relief legislation.”
The committee will continue to vote on non-binding resolutions, but the project’s progress on Monday afternoon takes the official step towards voting in plenary.
The more than 590-page bill marks the first major piece of legislation to be introduced under the Biden government and is the first opportunity for Democrats in Congress to legislate under control of all three branches of government. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will have a narrow margin to approve the bill later this week, unable to lose more than five votes. Increasing the chances of the bill is the fact that many members, both on the moderate and the progressive sides, have no appetite to torpedo the Biden government’s first big request.
The task in the Senate may be more difficult, as two Democratic moderates – Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona – made it clear that they are not comfortable voting for a coronavirus relief bill that includes a minimum wage increase to $ 15 an hour for five years.
The provision, which was in the House bill, may not survive the budget process and parliamentary review, which requires that each section of the bill comply with a strict set of rules. Lawmakers can find out Tuesday night whether or not the provision is allowed under reconciliation, the process that allows Democrats to approve their bill with just 51 votes.
This story and headline was updated on Tuesday to include additional developments.
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