House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D), California, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., are holding a press conference on Capitol Hill on November 6, 2020.
Nicholas Kamm | AFP | Getty Images
The Senate has surpassed President Joe Biden’s milestone $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package, an important step in the evolution of the bill into law.
The Senate, led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., voted Saturday on the party line to approve the massive Covid-19 relief plan, which includes $ 1.4 billion in stimulus control for many Americans, $ 350 billion in aid to state and local governments, and an extension of federal unemployment benefits.
The Democratic-led House is now scheduled to vote on Senate legislation Tuesday so President Joe Biden can sign the law earlier this week, according to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. Democrats are vying to pass the package before the increase in unemployment benefits expires on Sunday, March 14th.
Directly approving the Senate version avoids the complicated step of trying to resolve the differences between the two chambers in the conference committee. While the Senate bill is largely the same as it was passed by the House of Representatives in late February, there are some crucial differences.
The most notable difference between the bill passed by the House and the one passed by the Senate is that the latter does not contain an increase in the federal minimum wage to $ 15 per hour. Senate Democrats were forced to drop that provision after lawmakers ruled the chamber could not approve the wage hike of millions of Americans under budget conciliation.
Democrats in both houses have approved the U.S. bailout plan through reconciliation, a process that allows a party to pass a bill with a simple majority of votes, but restricts the type of provisions that can be included.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, has already made it clear that her committee will “absolutely” pass the Senate bill, even if an increase in the minimum wage is to be pursued in future legislation. Pelosi, in a statement Saturday, praised 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 has approved President Biden’s American rescue plan to save lives and livelihoods,” Pelosi said.
“The House now hopes to have a bipartisan vote on this life-saving legislation and urges Republicans to join us in recognizing the devastating reality of this cruel virus and economic crisis and the need for decisive action.” he said.
While Pelosi is calling for bipartisan support, Capitol Hill Republicans almost universally oppose the bill because it is too expensive, even if the minimum wage hike is no longer included. No Republican voted in Senate legislation and Democrats are unlikely to win converts in the House.
Senate Democrats were forced to make concessions to keep the moderates in their own ranks, namely Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. The legislation now maintains the federal unemployment benefit supplement at the current $ 300 per week, instead of the $ 400 House bill. The change would keep the policy in place until September, rather than ending it on August 29, as the House plan did.
Still, House Democrats are expected to have the vote to pass the Senate bill. Biden, in statements after the Senate vote, said he expects people to start receiving stimulus checks this month.