WASHINGTON – President Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion stimulus plan would have far-reaching effects on society as the country tries to prevent a pandemic that killed more than half a million people in the United States.
The mammoth bill, approved by the Senate on Saturday, would give Americans direct payments, expand unemployment benefits, and give states, municipalities and schools a huge financial infusion to help them reopen. It funds funding for priorities like coronavirus testing and vaccine distribution. And it is an ambitious anti-poverty program that offers significant benefits to people on low incomes.
Here’s a guide to what’s on the plan, which is due to go to the House for final approval on Tuesday and then forwarded to Mr Biden for signature.
The bill would give out $ 1,400 of stimulus checks.
Individuals earning less than $ 75,000 and married couples earning less than $ 150,000 would receive direct payments of $ 1,400 per person. The bill would also include $ 1,400 per dependent.
Payments would gradually decrease above that income level and disappear completely above an income cap: $ 80,000 for individuals and $ 160,000 for married couples.
The current increase in unemployment benefits of $ 300 per week would continue.
The bill extends unemployment programs through early September, including the $ 300 per week federal surcharge provided for in the last stimulus plan passed in December.
Mr Biden had proposed increasing this additional payment to $ 400 per week, which the House agreed to, but the Senate kept it at $ 300 per week.
The Senate bill also includes a provision designed to prevent surprise tax burdens for people who have lost their jobs. It waives federal income tax on the first $ 10,200 in unemployment benefits received in 2020 for households with incomes less than $ 150,000.
Among other things, the child tax credit would be more generous.
For 2021, the bill would temporarily expand the child tax credit, which is currently valued at up to $ 2,000 per child under the age of 17. Under the Senate bill, the tax credit for children ages 5 and under would be up to $ 3,600 and up to $ 3,000 for children ages 6-17.
The bill would provide the full value of the loan to low-income individuals who are currently ineligible or only receiving part of it.
Biden’s stimulus plan
Updated
March 6, 2021, 1:58 p.m. ET
The legislation would also expand the child and dependent care tax credit for 2021 and complement the earned income tax credit for employees without children for one year. It would exempt student loan issuance from income tax by 2025.
Money would be used to fight the pandemic and to support states, local governments and schools.
The bill would provide funding for vaccine distribution, as well as coronavirus testing, contact tracing, and genome sequencing. It would also give money to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
According to the Senate Budget Committee, $ 350 billion would be allocated to state and local governments and $ 130 billion to reopen schools. It also includes funding for colleges and universities, transit agencies, housing allowances, childcare workers and food aid.
The bill also includes funding to support businesses, including restaurants and venues, as well as a bailout for pension plans for multiple employers who are in financial difficulty.
The Affordable Care Act would get a boost.
The bill would temporarily increase subsidies for people who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. It contains billions of dollars in public health programs and veteran health care.
It is also designed to help those who have lost their jobs maintain coverage from their employer and cover full premium costs through a federal program called COBRA through September.
One thing is missing: an increase in the minimum wage.
As part of the stimulus package, Mr. Biden wanted to raise the federal minimum wage, which is now $ 7.25 an hour, to $ 15 an hour.
The stimulus package passed by the House of Representatives would raise wages to $ 15 an hour by 2025, but the Senate MP said the provision violated the strict rules that Senate Democrats had to follow to pass the bill through a special process, that it is in front of a filibuster and allows for its approval with exclusively democratic votes. A vote in the Senate on Friday to include the wage increase back in the bill failed.
