Stimulus: Relief package passes House, sent for president’s signature.
WASHINGTON — The House passed a $1.9 trillion COVID19 economic aid package Wednesday, sending to President Biden a sweeping measure that includes not only pandemicrelated $1,400 checks and expanded unemployment benefits, but also the biggest expansion of Obamacare and hefty new tax credits to combat child poverty.
Biden is expected to sign what is likely to become a signature achievement of his presidency on Friday, days before unemployment insurance expires for more than 10 million Americans on March 14.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DSan Francisco, called it one of the most important measures in her 33year legislative career, on par with the landmark Affordable Care Act of 2009. Tens of millions of Californians are expected to receive a direct financial benefit from the bill.
“It’s a remarkable, historic, transformative piece of legislation, which goes a very long way to crushing the virus and solving our economic crisis,” Pelosi told reporters Tuesday.
In the end, not a single Republican in the House or Senate voted for the package, guaranteeing it will become a political football in the midterm election and perhaps for years to come. Biden and Democrats are embracing what they say is delivering on their 2020 campaign promise to help struggling Americans.
The Senate passed it Saturday 5049, but only after stripping an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, narrowing the weekly federal unemployment supplement from $400 to $300 and reducing the number of Americans who will qualify for the direct payments.
The package, which passed the House 220211, could be Congress’ last major response to the pandemic. It includes mortgage and rental assistance, targeted aid to the restaurant, child care and airline industries, funding for vaccines and testing, aid to small businesses, schools and tribal governments and billions of dollars to help state and local governments deal with the economic fallout of COVID19 related closures.