Joe Biden asks the US Congress to spend 1.9 billion dollars on an economic rescue plan, including new direct payments per citizen, aid to state and local governments and more funds for the response to the covid.
The plan, outlined by senior officials in the incoming Biden administration, was announced last night by the US president-elect in a speech, establishing it as one of the top legislative priorities when he enters the White House next week.
“We cannot allow ourselves to sit idly by,” said the next president, and assured that “the benefits will be much greater than the cost.”
If enacted, the package will bring a new jolt of fiscal stimulus to America’s difficult recovery, following a $ 900 billion package agreed to last month by U.S. lawmakers and a $ 3 trillion relief approved at the start of the pandemic.
Biden’s push comes as he tries to refocus attention on the economy and the Covid-19 crisis just a day after Washington was sucked into the second impeachment of Donald Trump for inciting a deadly assault on Capitol Hill.
Yesterday, concerns about the US recovery resurfaced after an unexpected jump in weekly first-time claims for unemployment insurance, fueling Biden’s calls for more stimulus.
“The need is immediate and the urgency is increasing, both because of the trajectory of the virus … and the economy,” said one of Biden’s top advisers.
The plan is expected to mark the first step in Biden’s economic response to the covid recession, with additional recovery measures to be unveiled next month.
Analysts profile that in the second stage of the economic agenda, Biden calls for longer-term spending on infrastructure, green energy and education to be financed, at least partially, by higher taxes for the rich and corporations.
Democrats in Congress are also expected to back the stimulus. Biden’s party already has a majority in the House of Representatives and is poised to take control of the Senate in the next few days after winning two elections in Georgia.
The incoming president also hopes to win the support of some Republicans. The level of support for the stimulus will be an early test of its ability to achieve greater legislative unity after the tensions and divisions of the Trump presidency.
Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion plan, funded entirely by new loans, includes a new payment of $ 1,400 to most Americans, supplementing the $ 600 checks recently received by those earning less than $ 75,000 per year. That will bring the total value of recent direct payments to 2,000, the level endorsed by Trump and Biden in recent months.
This includes a 400-a-week extension to emergency unemployment benefits through September, avoiding a gulf in support of the unemployed that would have occurred in March.
There will also be a $ 350 billion cash injection for budget-minded state and local governments and avoiding layoffs of bureaucrats, a priority for Democrats that Republicans have resisted.
Another $ 50 billion will be set aside for grants and loans to struggling small businesses, in addition to the Paycheck Protection Program established in the pandemic to prevent small business bankruptcies.
A large component of Biden’s rescue plan is $ 400 billion in new spending to fight COVID, including $ 160 billion for testing and tracking, as well as a national vaccination plan that will help the administration meet its goal of inoculating 100. millions of people in its first hundred days.
Also included is $ 130 billion to accelerate the reopening of schools across the country.
Biden is expected to ask Congress to raise the minimum wage from 7.25 to $ 15 per hour, a long-standing Democratic priority that has union backing.
It will also push for an extension of the federal moratorium on evictions and foreclosures until September, while providing $ 30 billion in assistance to those struggling with rent and utility payments.
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