President Biden urges the Senate to move quickly to succeed its US rescue plan, hours to the House narrowly approved the $ 1.9 billion legislation. In a brief remark Saturday morning, Mr. Biden said he spoke to Speaker Nancy Pelosi about approving the bill.
“Now the bill is going to the Senate of the United States, where I hope it will act quickly. We have no time to waste,” he said. Biden said. “If we act decisively, swiftly and boldly now, we can finally predict this virus. We can finally get our economy back on track. And the people in this country have suffered far too much for too long. We need to alleviate it. the American rescue plan is doing exactly that. ‘
Two Democrats, Kurt Schrader of Oregon and Jared Golden of Maine, voted with Republicans early Saturday morning in the 219-212 vote. Not a single Republican voted for the bill. The legislation includes $ 1,400 in direct checks for Americans earning less than $ 75,000, an additional unemployment benefit of $ 400 a week, money for the distribution of vaccines, and funding for schools and state and local governments.
The House bill also includes a provision that would increase the federal minimum wage to $ 15 per hour by 2025, although the Senate lawmaker ruled that the bill could not include an increase in the federal minimum wage if Congress uses the budget reconciliation process. Congress Democrats have decided to use the procedure known as budget reconciliation, to approve the bill so that it can be approved by only a simple majority in the Senate.
In the wake of the parliamentarian’s decision, the Senate Democrats are now rush to finalize a new tax provision it will punish large companies that pay low wages. The plan, drafted by Assistants to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon – in close consultation with Senate Budget Chairman Bernie Sanders of Vermont – would impose a 5% tax penalty on ‘very large ‘impose enterprises that do not pay a certain amount to workers. .
Congress Democrats hope to get the final package by mid-March before Mr. Biden’s desk, before the critical emergency relief programs introduced by Congress late last year expired.