The House passed President Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus emergency relief package early Saturday morning almost entirely along biased lines. The bill now goes to the Senate, although it includes a minimum wage increase decided by the Senate MP Thursday, cannot be included if Congress uses the budget reconciliation process.
Two Democrats, Kurt Schrader of Oregon and Jared Golden of Maine, voted with the Republicans in the 219-212 vote. Not a single Republican voted for the bill.
The debate on the bill lasts until nearly 1 a.m. Saturday.
The bill, called the U.S. bailout plan, includes $ 1,400 in direct checks for Americans earning less than $ 75,000, an additional $ 400-a-week unemployment bonus, vaccine distribution money and funding for schools and state and local governments.
Although previous bills on coronavirus had been passed with dual support, the bill would be passed in the House along party lines, as Republicans criticized the high price and inclusion of provisions they saw as unrelated to the crisis.
The vote in the House came days after the US reached the grim milestone of 500,000 US deaths of the coronavirus. Millions lost their jobs as a result of the economic downturn, and supplementary unemployment benefits introduced by Congress late last year are expected to expire in mid-March.
The U.S. bailout plan is generally popular among Americans and deserves support from Republican voters as well as Democrats and independents. A poll released by Morning Consult / Politico on Thursday shows that 76% of Americans support the package, including 60% of Republicans.
“The need is great. The opportunity is there,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters on Thursday.
The bill also includes a provision that would increase the federal minimum wage by 2025 to $ 15 per hour, although the Senate MP decided that the bill cannot include an increase in the federal minimum wage if Congress uses the budget conciliation 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. Most legislation requires 60 votes in the Senate to move forward, so the budget reconciliation process could allow Democrats – with a 50-seat majority – to pass the bill without any Republican votes.
There are strict rules for using the budget reconciliation process, such as the “Byrd rule”, which requires that all provisions in the bill be budget-related, and not increase the federal deficit to a ten-year budget window. MP Elizabeth MacDonough has ruled that raising the minimum wage does not meet the parameters for budget reconciliation.
In a statement Thursday, Pelosi said MacDonough’s decision was “disappointing.”
“House Democrats believe the minimum wage increase is necessary. Therefore, this provision will remain on the floor tomorrow in the US rescue plan,” Pelosi said. The federal minimum wage of $ 7.25 has not been increased since 2009.
However, it is unclear that the provision of the minimum wage would be included in the final bill, even if MacDonough would decide that it was possible to include a wage increase in the bill. At least two Democrats, Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, have expressed concern about raising the minimum wage. Without the support of all 50 Democrats in the Senate, the prospects of the bill would be doomed.
Once the Senate considers its version of the bill, progressive individuals in the House could threaten to withhold their support for the final package unless some sort of minimum wage increase is included. Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday proposed that progressive members of the House press their own party in ways similar to Conservative Democrats in the Senate.
“There are progressive Democrats who have the muscle in the House,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “If we as a party decide on our promise to raise the minimum wage, I think is extremely untrue and it is something that we as a party can have a further discussion on how to fight for it.”
House Speaker Pramila Jayapal, chairwoman of the House Progressive Caucus, told reporters on Friday that the Senate should consider eliminating the legislative filibuster, which would allow any legislation passed by a simple majority in the Senate. The use of budget reconciliation is a solution that allows legislators to approve bills by a simple majority without torpedoing the filibuster.
“The rules in the Senate are really set there to retain the power of the minority,” Jayapal said. “Now we must show that it will make a difference that we will not be caught up in the tyranny of the minority that exists in the Senate.”
Jayapal and other progressives have urged Vice President Kamala Harris to overturn the parliamentarian’s decision in her capacity as president of the Senate.
A senior Democratic assistant has confirmed to CBS News that Senate Chuck Schumer, a minority leader, wants to add a new clause to punish large companies that do not pay their workers at least a minimum wage of $ 15, an idea that seems to be.
Senator Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and an outspoken advocate for raising the minimum wage, said Thursday that he would introduce an amendment to the package to take away tax deductions from large, profitable businesses that do not workers do not pay. at least $ 15 an hour and to give small businesses the incentives they need to raise wages. ‘
“This amendment needs to be incorporated into this Reconciliation Bill,” Sanders said.
It seems that other senators are open to undertakings not to pay their workers enough wages. Ron Wyden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, in a statement on Friday proposed a “plan B” approach to the minimum wage, which would impose a 5 percent fine on the big wage if workers were less than ‘ earn a certain amount. ‘
“At the same time, I want to encourage the smallest businesses – those with middle-class owners – to increase their workers’ wages. My plan will provide an income tax credit equal to 25 percent of wages, up to $ 10,000 per year per employer. small businesses that pay their workers higher wages, ”Wyden said.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, who joined Sanders in asking for $ 2,000 direct checks late last year, also introduced a bill requiring businesses with an income of $ 1 billion or more to pay their employees $ 15 an hour. .
Amendments only require that a simple majority be added to the legislation, so an amendment to the minimum wage is possible as long as all 50 Democrats approve it.
Raising the minimum wage is very popular, with a poll by the Pew Research Center in 2019 showing that 67% of Americans support raising the minimum wage to $ 15. It even has support in some red states, as shown by a Florida voting initiative to increase the minimum wage increase to $ 15 by 2026, which passed with the support of more than 60% of voters in the last election.
Jack Turman contributed to this report