WASHINGTON (AP): Let the sales push start.
President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses open an ambitious tour of the country this week to highlight the benefits of their $ 1.9 trillion plan to defeat the coronavirus and boost the economy.
The road show – dubbed the “Help is Here” tour of the White House – begins Monday with Harris heading to a vaccination site against COVID-19 and a culinary academy in Las Vegas and first lady Jill Biden touring for a New Jersey Elementary School.
The president will have more to say about the plan Monday at the White House and plans to visit a small business in Delaware County, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. He and Harris are scheduled to appear together in Atlanta on Friday.
Harris will meet Tuesday with small business owners in Denver. Wednesday sees Jill Biden in Concord, New Hampshire, and Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Stops at vaccination sites, businesses, schools and more are meant to educate the public about different aspects of the giant American Rescue Plan and how it will help people get to the other side of the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden has said the administration of President Barack Obama, in which Biden was vice president, did not properly educate the public about the benefits of its economic recovery plan. He said he wants to do a better job of sales this time around the details of his first big legislative victory.
One of the key features of the plan is direct payments of $ 1,400 for a single taxpayer, or $ 2,800 for a married couple filing their taxes together, plus $ 1,400 per dependent, for a total of $ 5,600 for a married couple with two children. Payments are phased out for those with higher incomes.
An extension of federal unemployment benefits will continue through Sept. 6 at $ 300 a week. There is $ 350 billion for state, local and tribal governments, $ 130 billion for K-12 schools and about $ 50 billion to expand COVID-19 testing, among other measures.
Restaurants and bars that were forced to close or limit service will take advantage of a new multibillion-dollar grant program, and the plan also has tens of billions of dollars to help people who have been left behind in their rent payments and mortgage.
The bill cleared Congress without any support from Republicans, despite polls finding widespread public support for the plan. Republicans argued that the bill was too expensive. Democrats provided the votes and Biden signed the law last week.
The “Help is Here” tour takes Harris on his first national trip as vice president. She will be accompanied by her husband, the nation’s first “second gentleman,” who is scheduled to leave for Monday in Las Vegas and Wednesday in New Mexico.
Since taking office, Harris has presided over the swearing-in ceremonies of members of Biden’s cabinet. He has been alongside the president in his speeches, made his own comments, spoken by telephone with several world leaders and made appearances in the Washington area, including the funeral services of Washington power corridor Vernon Jordan.
Harris also cast three 50-50 tiebreaker votes in the Senate in her role as Senate president.
Jill Biden will be joined by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on a tour Monday through Samuel Smith Elementary School in Burlington, where he is expected to talk about how the plan will help families and communities and highlight the steps which the school did to reopen.
The first lady has maintained a solid schedule focused on education, military families and cancer research since she took on her new role. Earlier this month, she and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona visited public schools in Connecticut and Pennsylvania that reopened during the pandemic.
Emhoff, an entertainment lawyer, has also made some appearances in the Washington area between his teaching stint at Georgetown Law. He plans to visit a food aid organization in Las Vegas on Monday and participate in a listening session with the organization’s partners.
In addition to the president, vice president and their spouses, cabinet secretaries will also be on tour. Hundreds of mayors and governors, including Republicans, are lining up for interviews to discuss what the plan means for their communities.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was scheduled Monday to tour a UPS distribution center in Landover, Maryland, which also offers vaccines in the Washington area.
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Associated Press writer Hope Yen contributed to this report.