What’s Included in Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 Trillion Stimulus Plan

The incoming Joe Biden administration unveiled a $ 1.9 trillion stimulus plan Thursday that offers a list of ideal spending measures aimed at helping both the people and the economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic. which includes both state and local aid and more generous unemployment benefits such as mass vaccinations.

Here’s a look at some of the most important provisions, how they would work, and what they could mean for the American economy as it struggles through a winter of rising coronavirus cases, as well as partial state and local closures.

Let’s put the header figure in context

That $ 1.9 trillion figure is a lot of money, to say the least. Congress approved a $ 900 billion aid program in December, and its package in March was also about $ 2 trillion. By way of comparison, the spending package for the Great Financial Crisis – the 2009 US Recovery and Reinvestment Act was about $ 800 billion.

The government has in mind checks for 1,400 dollars

President-elect Joe Biden is trying to deliver on the Democrats’ promise to send more money home in the form of one-time checks. His proposal would send $ 1,400 per person for those below certain income thresholds, to complete the $ 600 of checks that were part of the December aid package.

He also wants an unemployment insurance supplement of $ 400 a week

Biden is asking Congress to extend emergency unemployment insurance programs through the end of September – which expire in mid-March – while providing “an unemployment insurance supplement of $ 400 per week to help more workers. affected ”.

Line outside a Kentucky Career Center to seek help with your unemployment benefit claims in Frankfort, Kentucky (Reuters) 

That amount is higher than what lawmakers included in the December stimulus, which provided a $ 300 supplement for 11 weeks, but is less than the $ 600 weekly benefit included in the first package in March.

Schools could receive money to reopen

The government says it wants to “invest in what is necessary to meet the president-elect’s goal of safely reopening most” schools in kindergarten through eighth grade within Biden’s first 100 days in office.

Government officials suggest $ 170 billion for schools, supplemented by additional state and local funding. About $ 130 billion of that would go towards the reopening, with much of the rest of the money going to help universities cope with the shift to distance education and other issues related to the pandemic.

Student in Manhattan, New York (Reuters) 

The minimum wage could increase

After holding steady at $ 7.25 for more than a decade, the federal minimum wage would increase to $ 15 per hour under the proposal, which would also end the minimum wage and sub-minimum wage for people with disabilities. Many states and localities have already increased their own salary floors. It is not clear how quickly the higher salary would be introduced.

Research from the Congressional Budget Office in 2019 suggested that raising the salary to $ 15 nationally could increase the earnings of tens of millions of workers, although it could come at some cost to jobs, perhaps 1.3 Millions of people would be out of work, in part because employers would cut payroll.

States and localities could get help

The aid plan would allocate billions in grants and loan programs for small businesses (it’s not entirely clear how they will work) and $ 350 billion in emergency funds for state, local and territorial governments.

State and local governments have jointly seen their revenues decline less than anticipated, but have taken an uneven financial hit from the pandemic. They have cut payrolls significantly, which is concerning because they employ about 13 percent of US workers.

Public health measures come first

Biden is requesting $ 160 billion in funding for a national vaccination program, more testing, a public health jobs program and other measures aimed at fighting the virus, according to the government summary.

Senior care in Redlands, California (Reuters) 

The plan would invest $ 20 billion in a national vaccination program “in partnership with states, localities, tribes and territories” and would seek to ensure that people can receive vaccines for free and regardless of their immigration status. About $ 50 billion would be spent on improving testing, and $ 40 billion would be allocated to shore up protective equipment and supplies, deploy emergency response personnel and improve supply manufacturing.

The plan would expand paid leave

Biden would revamp the provisions on paid leave that were not extended as part of the December package, while eliminating exemptions for employers large and small. The plan would provide fourteen weeks of paid family and medical leave for caregivers facing closed schools or care facilities, while also providing a $ 1,400 paid leave benefit for workers who meet the requirements.

State and local governments and employers with fewer than 500 employees would be reimbursed for costs through a refundable tax credit. The emergency permit provisions would last until the end of September.

Parents would receive financial assistance

The plan would temporarily increase the size of tax credits for more families and make them “refundable,” meaning that people could get cash even if they don’t earn enough to owe income taxes.

Under the expanded child care tax credit, families with children 13 and under could receive up to $ 4,000 in total for one child or $ 8,000 for two or more children. Families with incomes below $ 125,000 a year would receive the full credit, while those earning up to $ 400,000 would receive a partial credit.