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WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats on a pivotal House panel have offered an additional $ 1,400 in direct payments to individuals, stronger unemployment benefits and more generous tax breaks for families with children and for low wages as the Congress was starting to collect $ 1.9 trillion in relief from the COVID-19 package on Monday.
The plan is expected to closely follow President Joe Biden’s proposed package to deal with the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 460,000 Americans, and the country’s still spiraling economy, which has lost 10 million. jobs since the onset of the crisis last year. Biden, less than three weeks after starting his presidency, said beating the virus and fixing the economy were his top priorities.
The Ways and Means Committee’s proposal, which plans to vote by the end of the week, would also expand tax credits for families with children, for people on low incomes and for Americans who buy health insurance. in the markets created by former President Barack Obama. Care Act. It would also provide health care subsidies for some unemployed people.
Spending by Ways and Means, one of Congress’ most powerful committees, is expected to exceed $ 900 billion, nearly half of Biden’s overall plan. The House Education and Labor Committee also presented its plans on Monday, a roughly $ 350 billion package including $ 130 billion to help schools reopen safely, $ 40 billion for colleges hit by the pandemic and gradually increasing the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour.
Leading Democrats hope the House will approve the full bill later this month and send a final House version to the Senate in Biden for signature by mid-March, when emergency unemployment benefits crucial will otherwise expire.
THIS IS A BRIEF UPDATE. AP’s previous story follows below.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Raising the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour would reduce the number of Americans living in poverty and raise the wages of millions of Americans while increasing federal debt and unemployment, new projects report of the Congressional Budget Office.
The federal deficit would increase by about $ 54 billion over 10 years under a Democratic proposal to gradually increase the federal minimum wage to $ 15, largely because the higher wages paid to workers, like those in s ’employ the elderly, would contribute to an increase in the federal salary. expenses, estimate found.
Democrats are pushing to include the higher minimum wage as part of their $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan. This week, House committees will begin to draft legislation along the lines requested by President Joe Biden. The education and labor committee included the wage hike in its part of the COVID-19 legislation unveiled on Monday.
Beyond the salary increase, the measure includes nearly $ 130 billion in state grants to help schools repair ventilation systems, reduce class sizes, and purchase personal protective equipment as communities are working to reopen schools safely. An additional $ 40 billion would go to colleges and universities, with much of the money going to emergency student financial assistance. And about $ 39 billion would be used to help child care providers.
But it’s the change in the minimum wage that becomes a key test for Biden as he seeks to garner public support for his proposal and navigate differences within his own party over how far COVID-legislation is. 19 should go. Left-wing voices like Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Author of the wage legislation, want Democrats to fight for higher wages now, but some moderates are suspicious, fearing the impact on small companies during the pandemic.
The broader relief bill is also expected to include another round of direct payments to Americans, an extension of the child tax credit, and assistance to states and local governments.
The Congressional Budget Office report cites several positive and negative effects of increasing the minimum wage. On the plus side, the number of people living in poverty would decline by about 900,000 once the $ 15 paycheck is fully in place in 2025. On the downside, the number of people who would work would drop by about 1. , 4 million.
Representative Bobby Scott, Democratic chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, said the report strengthens the case for including the $ 15 minimum wage in the COVID-19 relief bill . He pointed out that the report predicted that 17 million workers earning below the minimum wage would see a wage increase once the requirement was in place. 10 million more workers earning a little more than the proposed minimum could also see a wage increase.
“At a time when many of our essential workers are still not being paid enough to support themselves and their families, we must do everything in our power to give these workers a long overdue raise.” Scott said.
Scott added that the legislation is taking “bold and immediate steps” to help reopen schools and protect workers.
The committee-ranking Republican, Republican Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, called the proposal a “partisan and sloppy” ploy to push the Democrats’ agenda. “This long list of leftist proposals is astounding,” she said.
Lawmakers worried about the ability of small businesses to pay the higher minimum wage will undoubtedly point to the job losses that CBO believes would occur. Business groups such as the US Chamber of Commerce said they could support efforts to raise the minimum wage, but cited $ 15 as too high.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden remained “firmly committed” to a minimum wage of $ 15. But Psaki also noted that the Senate parliamentarian has the final say on the survival of the minimum wage hike in the final package. The fast-track process used by Democrats does not allow for changes in spending or taxes that are “just incidental” to a larger political goal.
The current federal minimum wage is $ 7.25 an hour and has not changed since 2009. Most states also have minimum wage laws. Employees are generally entitled to the higher of the two minimum wages. Currently, 29 states and Washington, DC, have minimum wages above the federal minimum wage of $ 7.25 an hour.
Also on Monday, Democratic lawmakers unveiled legislation to permanently extend the child tax credit, with supporters saying Democratic leaders agreed to include their legislation for one year as part of the relief measure. COVID-19.
Under the law, the value of the tax credit would become fully refundable and would drop from $ 2,000 to $ 3,000 for children aged 6 to 17 and from $ 2,000 to $ 3,600 for children under 6. years.
“If we don’t act now, we’ll miss a historic opportunity to give millions of children a better future,” said Representative Suzan DelBene, D-Wash.
Democratic lawmakers are also pushing for payments to be made on a monthly basis rather than as an annual lump sum.
“If we can land men on the moon, then we can get people a monthly check,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., Chair of the House Appropriations Committee.
Perhaps the biggest question in the COVID-19 relief bill is who will receive another round of stimulus payments. In December, lawmakers approved checks of $ 600 for people earning up to $ 75,000 a year and $ 1,200 for couples up to $ 150,000, with payments being phased out for higher incomes.
Many lawmakers have called for the next round of government checks to be more specifically targeted at those whose incomes have been harmed by the pandemic.
Psaki said Biden believed families earning $ 275,000 or $ 300,000 might not need direct checks, but the terms of the relief payments were still under discussion.
“There is currently a discussion about what this threshold will look like. A conclusion has not been finalized, ”Psaki said. “According to him, a nurse, a teacher, a firefighter who earns $ 60,000 should not be left without support or help.”
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Associated Press writer Collin Binkley contributed to this report from Boston.
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