House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, speaks during her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on February 11, 2021.
Olivier Douliery | AFP | Getty Images
House spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi believes Democrats will pass their next coronavirus bailout package before programs for unemployed Americans expire next month, she said Thursday.
Parliament hopes to approve his $ 1.9 trillion relief plan “by the end of February so we can send it to the president’s desk before the unemployment benefits run out,” the California Democrat told reporters on March 14.
The pandemic-era guidelines, due to be phased out, provide a $ 300 per week unemployment bonus, expand benefit entitlement to self-employed and gig workers, and extend the number of weeks Americans can receive benefits.
Nine House committees began writing and advancing their parts of the auxiliary bill this week, which the Democrats are expected to pass through budget balancing without a Republican vote. Pelosi said she expected the bodies drafting the legislation to finish their work this week.
The Budgets Committee will then combine the policies. As soon as the completed bill passes through the regulatory committee, the whole House can vote on it.
The Senate, which is holding the second impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump, is also trying to push ahead with temporary relief from the pandemic. Earlier on Thursday, Schumer told reporters that the process was not “delaying” the approval of the aid package.
Legislation faces greater challenges in the Senate than in the House of Representatives. In an evenly divided chamber, a single democratic defect would stop the law from being approved.
Democrats must also adhere to strict Senate rules that govern what lawmakers can include in reconciliation legislation. In particular, the Democratic priority of a minimum wage of $ 15, which the House Education and Labor Committee approved under the bill this week, may not survive the process.
Schumer told reporters that he and the chairman of the Senate Budgets Committee, Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Are “doing everything to see it survive”.
Republicans have said they will not support another massive spending package after Congress passed a $ 900 billion aid bill in December. A group of GOP senators who met with Biden about pandemic aid made a counteroffer of around $ 600 billion, but Democrats deemed it too small to address the crisis.
Jared Bernstein, a member of the White House Economic Advisory Council, told CNBC Thursday that opinion polls show “very deep” bipartisan support for the plan. He cited the “urgency” of the crisis in explaining the Democrats’ decision to go ahead alone.
Schumer also appeared to support the $ 1,400 direct payment eligibility threshold set by the House Ways and Means Committee. It would send the full sum to people earning up to $ 75,000 and couples earning up to $ 150,000, then completely phased out with incomes of $ 100,000 and $ 200,000, respectively to let.
He said the House bill was “just right” for what Senate Democrats support. Senator Joe Manchin, DW.Va., had raised concerns that money could go to high-income Americans. Among other things, Sanders spoke out against lowering the income caps so that people could receive the full $ 1,400.
The urge to get another bailout package comes as the US tries to step up its Covid-19 vaccination efforts and aid unemployed Americans until the economy returns to some degree of normalcy. The latest data shows that more than 20 million people are receiving unemployment benefits in all programs currently running.
If Congress does not renew policy before March 14, it is estimated that nearly 11 million people could lose benefits.
The House proposal would increase the current premium from $ 300 per week to $ 400. This measure, along with other eligibility measures, would remain in place through August 29.
President Joe Biden had previously proposed that the policy be extended until September 30th.
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