The Senate voted 58-42 Friday night to reject Senator Bernie Sanders’ effort to add a $ 15 minimum wage provision to the president’s $ 1.9 million COVID-19 relief bill Biden and is now ready to work until well into Saturday’s all-night marathon. haggling for massive measure.
The so-called “vote-to-branch,” during which senators can offer and debate unlimited amendments, spoke out against the objections of Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who on Friday afternoon decreed that Democrats crawl to delay voting until 10 a.m. Saturday. .
“They want to start voting that could be done in broad daylight because of their own confusion and the challenges of bringing together 50 people to agree on something,” McConnell had clung to when asking for the adjournment.
He was referring to a 12-hour logjam since last Friday, during which Democrats fought to unify the 50 members of his caucus, a deadlock that finally ended shortly before 11 p.m., with a last-minute commitment with centrist Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. emergency benefits for unemployment.
“Now that this agreement has been reached, we will go to power for the rest of the process and get this bill enforced,” Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) pledged.
Democrats, who closely control the Senate, had postponed plans to begin voting on amendments Friday afternoon after Manchin (DW.Va.) sided with Republicans to demand that unemployment benefits be cut.
That particular log was broken after nine hours, with a commitment that would provide weekly profits of $ 300 through Sept. 6, along with a reduction in income taxes.
A federal unemployment supplement approved in December (at $ 300 a week) expires this month.
The House-approved version of the Biden Act had a more generous weekly unemployment supplement until August.
The last-minute negotiations were Manchin’s first major power play, which can only derail Biden’s legislative agenda in the divided Senate.
Biden got less than 30 percent of the vote in West Virginia, which gave Manchin no imperative to line up.
The commitment of the night, and the reduction of the vote on the rise in the minimum wage, pave the way for the marathon voting series on the relief package, with the forecast that voting will be extended until Saturday.
In addition to the $ 300 increase in weekly unemployment benefits, the COVID-19 Senate Relief Bill provides:
• A benefit of $ 1,400 per person, including children, for people earning less than $ 75,000 a year or married couples earning less than $ 150,000 a year.
• A total of $ 350 billion in grants for municipalities, states and the District of Columbia.
• An extension of the current 15 percent increase in food stamp profits through September.
• About $ 20 billion in housing aid for state and local governments.
• Nearly $ 130 billion for K-12 schools to help children return to their classrooms.
• $ 15 billion for small businesses, through the emergency disaster loan program.
• $ 75 billion in vaccinations, tests and other pandemic medical supplies.
• An annual tax credit of $ 3,600 for children under 6 and $ 3,000 for children under 17.
Budget conciliation rules allow a majority of the legislation’s votes to pass in the divided Senate, where Vice President Kamala Harris breaks ties in favor of Democrats.
The version of the bill in the Senate has already seen major changes.
This week, Biden signed a stronger $ 1,400 removal of stimulus checks, which means people who earn more than $ 80,000 a year won’t see a penny, as opposed to a $ 100,000 limit. in the House version.
Senate lawmaker avoided key provisions that Republicans and some centrist Democrats opposed, including $ 140 million for a railroad project near California’s Nancy Pelosi district of House Speaker.
Republicans say the bill is unnecessary and wasteful, stressing that much of the funds will not be spent until the pandemic is over.
For example, the bill contains $ 129 billion for K-12 schools, but the Congressional Budget Office estimates that approximately 95% will not be spent in 2021 because no approved funds have been spent on schools last year.
For parents, the bill authorizes an annual tax credit of $ 3,600 per child under the age of 6 and $ 3,000 per child up to the age of 17.
These funds are also cleared for those earning more than $ 75,000 or those presenting sets above $ 150,000.
According to an analysis by CNBC.extra, a family of four earning less than $ 150,000 could earn more than $ 14,000 from the bill.