US Congress approves Joe Biden’s stimulus package for 1.9 trillion dollars

The proposal had already been approved by the Senate at the end of February, despite the rejection that the Republican Party has shown from the beginning.

Now the package returns to the White House, where the president must ratify it no later than this Friday, March 12, the AFP news agency reported.

The final result this Wednesday in the House of Representatives was 220 votes in favor, all Democrats, and 211 against, all Republicans, plus a progressive legislator.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the initiative “one of the most decisive and transformative laws” for Americans.

For his part, Biden welcomed the approval of the tax rescue package, noting that it gives workers a “chance”.

The bill includes new direct payments of $ 1,400 to taxpayers with incomes less than $75,000 per year per person, an amount higher than the $600 and $1,200 checks issued in previous stimulus packages.

It also extends the extension for unemployment benefits of $300 a week, as the current funds expire on March 14.

That was the deadline that had been set for the completion of the project, both for the White House and for both houses of Congress.

The package also earmarks $350 billion for state and local governments; 170 billion for the reopening of schools; 14 billion dollars to strengthen the vaccination plan; and another $ 46 billion for the coronavirus testing system.

However, the increase in the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour was not approved, one of the main interests of the new administration and that according to economists would be a great benefit for the country, since it would save millions of the budget currently allocated to social programs, which would no longer be necessary.

The package promoted by Biden adds to the 900 billion dollars that Congress approved in December, and the previous of 2.2 billion dollars in March 2020, the largest in the history of the country, under the administration of Donald Trump.