House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (R), D-Calif., And Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., will hold a press conference on Capitol Hill on Nov. 6, 2020.
Nicholas Kamm | AFP | Getty Images
The Senate has passed President Joe Biden’s milestone $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package, an important step in the evolution from the bill to legislation.
The Senate, led by majority leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., voted along party lines on Saturday to approve the massive Covid-19 contingency plan, which includes $ 1,400 incentive vouchers for many Americans, $ 350 billion in aid to state and local governments, and an expansion of federal unemployment benefits.
The Democrat-led House now plans to vote on the Senate bill on Tuesday so that President Joe Biden can sign it into law early in the week, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said. Democrats are rushing to approve the package before the improved unemployment support expires on Sunday, March 14.
Taking the Senate version outright avoids the complicated step of resolving the differences between the two chambers on the conference committee. While the bill in the Senate is largely the same as the bill passed by the House of Representatives at the end of February, there are some crucial differences.
The most notable difference between the bill passed by the House and the bill passed by the Senate is that the latter does not include a federal minimum wage increase to $ 15 an hour. Senate Democrats were forced to abandon that provision after the MP ruled that the chamber could not pass the wage increase for millions of Americans under budget reconciliation.
Democrats in both houses have passed the US bailout through reconciliation, a process that allows a party to pass a bill by simple majority, but limits the types of provisions that can be included.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Has already made it clear that her caucus will “absolutely” approve the Senate bill, even if a minimum wage increase is to be pursued in future legislation. In a statement Saturday, Pelosi hailed the Senate bill as “a huge step forward in defeating the virus.”
“Today is a day of great progress and promise for the American people as the Democratic Senate passed President Biden’s US bailout plan to save lives and livelihoods,” Pelosi said.
“The House now hopes to vote on two sides on this life-saving legislation and urges Republicans to join us in recognition of the devastating reality of this vicious virus and economic crisis and the need for decisive action” , she said.
While Pelosi is calling for bipartisan support, the Republicans on Capitol Hill are almost universally opposed to the bill for being too expensive, even if the minimum wage hike is no longer included. Not a single Republican has voted in favor of Senate legislation, and Democrats are unlikely to win converts in Parliament.
Senate Democrats were forced to make concessions to keep moderates on board in their own ranks, namely Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia. The legislation now enforces the federal unemployment benefit supplement at the current $ 300 a week, instead of the $ 400 in the House bill. The change would keep the policy in effect through September, rather than ending it on August 29, as the house plan did.
Still, House Democrats are expected to have the votes to pass the Senate bill. Biden said in comments following the vote in the Senate that he expects people to receive stimulus checks this month.