- House Democrats on Monday night unveiled a draft of stimulus legislation.
- It retained the thresholds for stimulus checks proposed in the Biden Rescue Package, a layoff of some Democrats to limit who can get a full check.
- Democrats in the House are rushing to set the Biden stimulus plan for a floor vote by the end of the month.
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House Democrats have issued a stimulus plan to maintain the $ 75,000 stimulus check income limit for individual taxpayers and $ 150,000 for couples, and have an effort by some Senate Democrats to sharply limit those who can receive a direct payment.
Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, submitted the proposal before the expected committee work. This could still change as committees begin to turn the Biden rescue plan into legislation over the next two weeks.
“Our nation is struggling, the virus is still out of control, and the American people are relying on Congress to meet this moment with bold, immediate action,” Neal said in a statement.
The proposal spreads payments to individual taxpayers who earn $ 75,000 or less, along with couples who earn $ 150,000 or less – the same parameters in President Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 billion relief package.
However, the legislation increases the rate at which payments decrease. Single custodians earning $ 100,000 annually and joint filers earning $ 200,000 can no longer receive federal cash.
The early momentum behind Democrats seems to be gathering pressure to keep the existing revenue thresholds for checks set out by Biden in its economic aid package. Some centralists, such as Senator Joe Manchin, prefer to intensify the tests to ensure that richer people who do not lose their jobs cannot get one.
But it has sparked resistance among many Democrats, including Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon. Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, in an interview with Insider, became the youngest Democratic senator to oppose the restriction of the checks.
“I think people in Georgia are struggling with $ 75,000 in many cases,” he said Monday, adding that he is committed to “helping as many people as soon as we can.”
The Biden plan includes $ 1,400 checks, $ 400 federal unemployment benefits, state and local government assistance, an increased child tax credit and vaccine distribution funds. The White House said it was open for negotiations on the check thresholds, but they had not yet decided on that.
“There is currently a discussion about what the threshold will look like,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday. “A conclusion has not yet been reached.”
A group of Senate Republicans also supports the restriction of check income thresholds, which could exclude at least 29 million families who qualify for a check under the Biden Plan.
Wyden said in a statement that he would insist on six months of improved unemployment insurance after the House Democratic plan cut one month’s unemployment benefits.
“Relief tests and unemployment benefits are the most tangible part of the economic relief package for those struggling to make an end,” he said.
Democrats are drawing up a quick timetable to pass coronavirus relief using the reconciliation process. It is a maneuver by which a bill can clear the Senate with only 51 votes instead of the 60 normally required.
During the Senate voting a-rama last week, both Democrats and Republicans approved a non-binding amendment banning stimulus checks from wealthy families. Susan Collins of Maine and Manchin, non-binding amendment, did not specify an income amount.
Democratic-led committees will begin drafting legislation for the Biden Plan in the next two weeks, with a view to a floor vote sometime in the week of February 22nd. Then the bill will go to the Senate for passage and finally Biden’s desk for his signature.
Other parts of the legislation introduced Monday include a minimum wage of $ 15, emergency funding for schools and universities, and other pandemic-related benefits.
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