Washington, United States
The new president of the United StatesDemocrat Joe Biden on Friday unveiled a plan to provide “emergency and equitable economic relief” for families, communities and businesses affected by the pandemic.
The president’s instructions are part of a set of measures for a sum of about $ 1.9 trillion which Biden will send to Congress, where Democrats have a majority in both houses.
“The pandemic has pushed into the United States to an economic crisis. More than 10 million people are out of work, 14 million tenants are behind on payments, 29 million adults and at least eight million children are struggling with food insecurity, “the document reads. plan disclosed by the White House.
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The Biden initiative includes instructions for the Department of Agriculture expand federal food aid programs and the Treasury Department to modify its programs so that relief reaches about eight million people who have not received assistance since the pandemic.
“Nationwide, one in seven households and more than one in every five African American and Latino households they realize difficulties in acquiring the food they require, ”the announcement continued.
“President Biden is urging Congress to provide additional support by ensuring that all people, whatever their situation, have access to healthy and affordable food,” he adds.
Since the pandemic began to spread in United States a year ago, the federal government first distributed a $ 1,200 check and at the end of the year another $ 600 check to all taxpayers, and in its proposal, Biden adds the distribution of another $ 1,400 check as temporary relief from the economic difficulties of the population.
Biden applied to the Department of Labor which clarifies that workers have a right, guaranteed by federal law, to refuse to perform tasks “that endanger their health, and that if they do so they qualify for unemployment benefits.”
In one of the most potentially impactful initiatives included in the plan, Biden proposed raising the federal government employee’s salary to $ 15 per hour and added that the Executive should only “assign contracts to the private sector to pay the same remuneration to its workers and grant them paid leave for emergencies “.
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The announcement of the White house maintains that “in 2019, 43% of households indicated that they had at least one family member with pre-existing health conditions, and many of them have a higher risk of serious illness or death if they contract covid- 19 “.
Biden “believes that workers should have the right to be employed in safe places and that no one should have to choose between their salary and the health of themselves and their families.”
“During the pandemic the government programs they have provided much-needed support to help tens of millions of people pay their rents, mortgages and other bills, to get the food they need and access to health care, ”the White House said.
“However, he added, this crucial support does not always reach those who need it most.”
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Many families have had to deal with eligibility rules that are very complicated and for this reason, for example, more than 20% of income tax credits have not been claimed and, according to a survey mentioned in the According to the statement, less than 40% of workers in the service sector, laid off during the closure of activities, receive unemployment benefits.
The United States, the world most affected by the pandemic, has 24.6 million confirmed cases and more than 410.00 deaths from covid-19, according to the independent count of Johns Hopkins University.