WASHINGTON – The $ 1.9 billion economic stimulus plan approved by the Senate on Saturday follows the outlines of the comprehensive pandemic aid package proposed by President Biden, but senators have made a series of notable changes that have narrowed the bill.
While the House passed a version of the bill that included the proposals of Mr. Biden kept largely intact, the Senate omitted an increase in the minimum wage he included, comparing the suitability for the next round of stimulus tests and limiting the amount Americans would receive. supplementary unemployment benefits in the coming months.
The changes made by the Senate are likely to hold up, as the version adopted by the House will be before the House on Tuesday for final approval. The bill will then go to Mr. Biden goes for his signature.
Here are some of the key differences between the accounts of the two rooms.
The minimum wage increase was dropped.
The Home Account would gradually increase the federal minimum wage, which currently stands at $ 7.25 per hour, by 2025. The Senate bill contains no wage increase.
The Senate MP said last month that the wage increase violated the strict rules that could be included in the bills, which were implemented through a special process known as budget reconciliation. It asked the Democrats to sketch it out of the package.
Democrats used the reconciliation process because it could pass the bill with only a simple majority by the Senate and protect it from a filibuster – which requires 60 votes to break – and thus the need to win Republican support from the cleared away.
Friday saw an amendment to add back the minimum wage increase to less than the 60 votes needed to do so, and it was 42 to 58 in a procedural vote. Seven Democrats and one independent acting with them joined all 50 Republicans in opposition, indicating that the pay rise did not have enough support to clear the Senate, regardless of the parliamentarian’s ruling.
Stimulus checks will be available for fewer Americans
Both the House and Senate bills will provide another round of direct payments to Americans, with payments of up to $ 1,400 going to hundreds of millions of people. But the Senate bill places stricter income limits on who is eligible, making millions of people incapable of receiving a payment.
Both accounts would pay $ 1,400 for individuals earning up to $ 75,000, single parents earning up to $ 112,500 and married couples with an income up to $ 150,000. Gradually, smaller payments go to those who earn more, and this will decrease as income levels rise and phase out completely for those who are above a certain income limit.
But while the House sets the limit at $ 100,000 for individuals, $ 150,000 for single parents and $ 200,000 for couples, the Senate has lowered them to calm moderates who want payments to be more targeted.
Biden’s stimulus plan
Instead, the Senate bill would set the limit at $ 80,000 for individuals, $ 120,000 for single parents and $ 160,000 for couples, meaning those earning more than that would not receive checks.
Unemployment payments will stay at $ 300 a week, instead of rising to $ 400.
The last incentive package passed in December partially recovered a federal unemployment payout that expired last summer, expanding by $ 300 a week and until March 14. The House Bill increased the benefit in line with the proposal of Mr. Biden, but the Senate, where moderates stayed with the increase in payment, left it the same.
The House version would offer a broader $ 400-a-week benefit through Aug. 29. The Senate measure would deliver $ 300 a week through Sept. 6.
The Senate bill would also exempt $ 10,200 in unemployment benefits received in 2020 from federal income tax for households earning less than $ 150,000.
Both the House and the Senate have also tried to help workers who lose their jobs provide their health insurance coverage, but the Senate Act is broader. The House measure would cover 85 percent of the premiums through a program called COBRA through September, while the Senate measure would cover the full cost of the premiums.
A railway project, student loan debt and more
The two accounts differ in different areas. The Senate has added a provision that would exempt the forgiveness of student loans until 2025 from income tax, a move that comes amid pressure on Mr. Pray to cancel student loan debt through executive action.
Funding for a Republican-criticized railroad project in Silicon Valley, Northern California, has been included in the House bill, but was removed from the Senate measure after Congress voted against it.
Another transportation-related grant in the House bill that drew criticism from Republicans, $ 1.5 million for the Seaway International Bridge between the state of New York and Canada, was also deleted from the Senate version.