Senate Democrats signed an agreement Friday night to extend unemployment insurance for President Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package after deliberating and stopping other actions for about nine hours, per Senate assistant.
Why it’s important: The Senate can now resume voting on other amendments to the broader bailout bill.
- Senator Joe Manchin (DW.V.) supported his party’s proposal for emergency unemployment benefits, after hesitating to support an earlier version.
- Helping Americans unemployed has been an issue that has divided progressives, hoping to help voters who have lost their jobs during the pandemic, and Manchin and his moderate colleagues who have sought to reduce the costs of unemployment. generalized legislation.
The big picture: Democrats will now offer an amendment that extends the improved unemployment insurance by $ 300 a week through Sept. 6. The bill passed by the House pushed the program until August 29th.
- The agreement also provides a tax cut to those who receive unemployment insurance from the program by making the first $ 10,200 received not taxable for households with incomes below $ 150,000.
What they say: “The president supports the compromise agreement and thanks all the senators who worked so hard to achieve that result,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday night.
- “The most important thing is that this agreement allows us to move forward with the American rescue plan we need urgently, with $ 1400 relief checks, funding we need to end the deployment of the vaccine, open our schools, help those who suffer the pandemic and more. “