The House seems ready to give President Biden what he is asking for. They are ready to go big. The only question now is what the Senate will do when they get the House bill. Will they block it? Will they take big chunks out of the bill?
Here, from CNN, is what is likely to be in the House version of the bill that will be sent to the Senate.
Stimulus checks
The House bill would provide direct payments worth up to $1,400 per person. A family of four could receive up to $5,600.
Individuals earning less than $75,000 a year and married couples earning less than $150,000 would be sent the full amount.
But not everyone who received a previous stimulus check would be eligible for this round. The payments would phase out faster and completely cut off individuals earning more than $100,000 and families earning more than $200,000.
Unemployment assistance
The House bill would extend two key pandemic unemployment programs through August 29. It would also increase the federal weekly boost to $400, from the current $300, and continue it for the same time period.
Nutrition assistance
The House plan would extend the 15% increase in food stamp benefits through September, instead of having it expire at the end of June.
It also contains $880 million for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC. Biden called for investing $3 billion in the program.
And it would allow states to continue the Pandemic-EBT, which provides families whose children's schools are closed with funding to replace free- and reduced-price meals the kids would have received, through the summer.
Housing aid
The legislation would send roughly $19.1 billion to state and local governments to cover back rent, rent assistance, and utilities for at risk, low-income households with unemployed members, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
It would also give about $10 billion to states and tribes to provide mortgage payment assistance and other financial help to homeowners affected by the pandemic.
And it would provide a total of $11 billion to provide rental assistance, homeless services and support, housing counseling, and mortgage support.
Tax credits for families and workers
The House bill would expand the child tax credit to $3,600 for children under 6 and $3,000 for children under age 18.
It would also become fully refundable so more low-income parents could take advantage of it. Plus, families could receive payments monthly, rather than a lump sum once a year, which would make it easier for them to pay the bills.
The bill also enhances the earned income tax credit for workers without children by nearly tripling the maximum credit and extending eligibility to more people. The minimum age to claim the childless credit would be reduced to 19, from 25, and the upper age limit would be eliminated.
Education and child care
The bill would provide nearly $130 billion to K-12 schools to help students return to the classroom. Schools would be allowed to use the money to update their ventilation systems, reduce class sizes to help implement social distancing, buy personal protective equipment and hire support staff. It would require that schools use at least 20% of the money to address learning loss by providing extended days or summer school, for example.
The money is also intended to help prevent teacher layoffs next year when some states may be struggling to balance their budgets. The pot of money will remain available through September 2023.
Health insurance subsidies and Medicaid
The bill would make federal premium subsidies for Affordable Care Act policies more generous and would eliminate the maximum income cap for two years.
Enrollees would pay no more than 8.5% of their income towards coverage, down from nearly 10% now. Also, those earning more than the current cap of 400% of the federal poverty level -- about $51,000 for an individual and $104,800 for a family of four in 2021 -- would become eligible for help.
In addition, the legislation would bolster subsidies for lower-income enrollees and those collecting unemployment benefits, eliminating their premiums completely.
Aid to states
The House legislation would provide $350 billion to state and local governments, as well as tribes and territories.
Vaccines and testing
The House bill provides $14 billion for vaccines, $46 billion for testing, contact tracing, and mitigation and $7.6 billion to hire 100,000 public health workers to support coronavirus response. It would also invest $25 billion in addressing health disparities and protecting vulnerable populations.
Minimum wage
The legislation would increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 in stages. It would also guarantee that tipped workers, youth workers and workers with disabilities are paid the full federal minimum wage.
No comments:
Post a Comment
ANONYMOUS COMMENTS WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED. And neither will racist,homophobic, or misogynistic comments. I do not mind if you disagree, but make your case in a decent manner.