Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks at the confirmation hearing of Jennifer Granholm, the nominated Secretary of Energy, before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Capitol Hill on January 27, 2021 in Washington, DC.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders said on Sunday that he was cutting back on the cut-off threshold for receiving $ 1,400 direct payments in the next coronavirus reduction bill, emphasizing a divided Democrats would have to decide before they could pass the $ 1.9 billion package.
The most conservative member of the caucus in Senator Joe Manchin, DW.V., has expressed concern that stimulus controls, as currently targeted, will get too many high-income people who did not lose their jobs during the pandemic. President Joe Biden has said he is open to negotiating eligibility for payments, which, as proposed, will be fully applicable to individuals earning up to $ 75,000 and couples earning up to $ 150,000.
Sanders, an independent in Vermont and chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and some colleagues argued that Democrats should not cut income taxes. Eligibility for checks has emerged as the party’s main point as it seeks to implement a bailout package without Republican votes in the Senate.
A single deviation would lower the bill.
Sanders told CNN that he supports a ‘strong wreath’ of payments so that it does not spread to people earning $ 300,000 a year. ‘As now modeled, the plan will phase out the checks with 5% of every dollar a person earns above the limit to receive the full amount.
“And that’s what I support, that’s what I think most people understand, ‘Sanders said to phase out payments more quickly. ‘But to say to a worker in Vermont or California or anywhere else: if you earn, you know $ 52,000 a year, you’re too rich to get this help, the full benefit, I think it’s absurd. ‘
According to reports, Democrats could start phasing out deposits at $ 50,000 in income for individuals rather than $ 75,000.
Sanders will play a key role in drafting the bill and in ensuring that it complies with the budget reconciliation process. The tool will enable Democrats to pass legislation themselves in a 50-50 Senate split. Vice President Kamala Harris will hold the casting vote.
Democrats begin drafting the aid bill this week, hoping to pass it by March 14, when major unemployment programs that strengthen millions of Americans expire. Along with the payments, the bill will include a $ 400-a-week unemployment benefit during September, $ 20 billion for a Covid-19 vaccination program, $ 350 billion to state and local government and $ 30 billion for rent and assistance .
Biden said he was willing to change the eligibility for payments. He stressed on Friday that “I do not reduce the checks.”
The Treasury Department, Janet Yellen, appeared before Sanders on CNN and indicated that she was reluctant to reduce the income tax for receiving a full payment of $ 1,400 to $ 50,000.
‘If you think of a primary school teacher or a policeman who earns $ 60,000 a year, and in front of children who did not go to school, and people who may have had to withdraw from the workforce to take care of them … [Biden] think, and I would definitely agree that it is appropriate for people to get support there, ‘she said on Sunday.
As part of a wave of votes before adopting a budget resolution Friday to draft the conciliation process, the Senate overwhelmingly supported an amendment to prevent high-income taxpayers from receiving stimulus checks. However, the symbolic criterion did not determine who those high earners were.
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