WASHINGTON (AP) – Let the sales begin.
President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their wives are launching an ambitious country tour this week to highlight the benefits of its $ 1.9 billion plan to defeat the coronavirus and boost the economy.
The road show – titled “Help is Here” by the White House – begins Monday with Harris heading to a COVID-19 vaccination site and culinary academy in Las Vegas, and first lady Jill Biden at a primary school in New Jersey.
The president will have more to say about the plan in the White House on Monday, and he plans to visit a small business in Delaware County, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. He and Harris will appear together in Atlanta on Friday.
Harris will meet with small business owners in Denver on Tuesday. Wednesday, Jill Biden is in Concord, New Hampshire, and Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, is in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The stop at vaccination sites, businesses, schools and more is intended to inform the public about various aspects of the giant American rescue plan and how it will help people get on the other side of the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden said President Barack Obama’s administration, in which Biden was vice president, failed to adequately inform the public about the benefits of his economic recovery plan. He said he wants to do better sales this time around on the details of his first major victory in the legislation.
One of the key features of the plan is direct payments of $ 1,400 for a single taxpayer, or $ 2,800 for a couple filing their taxes jointly, plus $ 1,400 per dependent – for a total of $ 5,600 for a couple with two children. The payments are being phased out for those with higher incomes.
The expansion of federal unemployment benefits will continue until September 6 at $ 300 a week. There is $ 350 billion for state, local and tribal governments, $ 130 billion for K-12 schools and about $ 50 billion to expand COVID-19 testing, among other things.
Restaurants and bars forced to close or restrict service will benefit from a new multi-billion dollar subsidy program, and the plan also has tens of billions of dollars to help people left behind with their rent and mortgage payments.
The bill cleared Congress without any Republican support, despite polls finding broad public support for the plan. Republicans have argued the bill is too expensive. Democrats provided the votes and Biden signed them last week.
The “Help is Here” tour takes Harris on her first domestic trip as vice president. She will be accompanied by her husband, the country’s first ‘second lord’, who plans to break down separate events on Monday in Las Vegas and Wednesday in New Mexico.
Since taking office, Harris has led swearing-in ceremonies for members of Biden’s Cabinet. She spoke with the president, delivered her own remarks, spoke by telephone to various world leaders, and showed up in the Washington area, including at funeral services for Washington power broker Vernon Jordan.
Harris also cast three votes in the Senate 50-50 in her role as president of the Senate.
Jill Biden will be touring New Jersey Government Phil Murphy on a tour of Samuel Smith Elementary School in Burlington, where she is expected to talk about how the plan will help families and communities, and the steps the school has taken has to reopen, highlight.
The first lady has maintained a robust scheme that has focused on education, military families and cancer research since she started in her new role. Earlier this month, she and Education Minister Miguel Cardona visited public schools in Connecticut and Pennsylvania that reopened during the pandemic.
Emhoff, an entertainment lawyer, also made some appearances in the Washington area between his studies at Georgetown Law. He plans to visit a food aid organization in Las Vegas on Monday and attend a listening session with the organization’s partners.
In addition to the president, vice president and their spouses, the cabinet secretaries will also be on tour. Hundreds of mayors and governors, including Republicans, are being interviewed to discuss what the plan means for their communities.
Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg was to visit a UPS distribution center in Landover, Maryland, on Monday, which also supplies vaccines in the Washington area.
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Associated Press author Hope Yen contributed to this report.