Here’s how the Senate slashed Biden’s stimulus package

WASHINGTON – The $ 1.9 trillion economic stimulus package approved by the Senate on Saturday follows the broad outline of President Biden’s broad pandemic aid package, but senators have made a series of notable changes that have reduced the bill.

While the House passed a version of the bill that largely kept Mr. Biden’s proposals intact, the Senate omitted a minimum wage increase it had included, reducing eligibility for the next round of stimulus checks and limited the amount Americans will receive in supplementary unemployment benefits in the coming months.

Changes made by the Senate are likely to remain, as the version passed by the chamber is expected to be submitted to the House for final approval on Tuesday. The bill would then be directed to Mr Biden for signature.

Here are some of the main differences between bills from both houses.

The increase in the minimum wage has been abandoned.

The House bill would gradually increase the federal minimum wage, which is currently $ 7.25 an hour, to $ 15 an hour by 2025. The Senate bill does not include an increase salary.

The Senate parliamentarian said last month that the salary increase violated strict rules governing what can be included in bills passed through a special process known as budget reconciliation – prompting Democrats to remove it from the package.

Democrats used the reconciliation process because it allowed the bill to pass the Senate with a simple majority, shielding it from filibuster – which requires 60 votes to break – and thus eliminating the need. to win the support of Republicans.

On Friday, an amendment to add back the minimum wage increase was well below the 60 votes needed to do so, failing 42 to 58 in a procedural vote. Seven Democrats and an independent who caucus with them joined the 50 Republicans in opposition, signaling that the salary increase lacked enough support to wipe out the Senate regardless of the parliamentarian’s decision.

Stimulus checks will be available for fewer Americans

The House and Senate bills would offer another round of direct payments to Americans, with payments of up to $ 1,400 to hundreds of millions of people. But the Senate bill places stricter income limits on who is eligible, disqualifying millions of people from receiving payment.

The two bills would provide payments of $ 1,400 for people earning up to $ 75,000, single parents earning up to $ 112,500, and married couples with incomes of up to $ 150,000. Smaller and smaller payments would go to those who earn more, decreasing as income levels rise and gradually disappearing for those above a certain income limit.

But while the House set the cap at $ 100,000 for individuals, $ 150,000 for single parents and $ 200,000 for couples, the Senate lowered them to appease moderates who wanted payments to be more targeted.

Instead, the Senate bill would set the cap at $ 80,000 for individuals, $ 120,000 for lone parents and $ 160,000 for couples, meaning those earning more than that would not receive checks.

Unemployment benefits would remain at $ 300 per week, instead of increasing to $ 400.

The latest stimulus package passed in December partially reinstated federal unemployment compensation that expired last summer, offering $ 300 a week and extending it until March 14. The House bill increased benefits as per Mr. Biden’s proposal, but the Senate where moderates hesitated. to increase the payment, he left the same.

The House version would offer a more generous benefit of $ 400 per week until August 29. The Senate measure would provide $ 300 per week until September 6.

The Senate bill would also exempt $ 10,200 in unemployment benefits received in 2020 from federal income tax for households earning less than $ 150,000.

The House and Senate have also sought to help workers who have lost their jobs keep their employer-provided health insurance coverage, but the Senate bill is more generous. The House measure would cover 85 percent of bonuses through a program called COBRA until September, while the Senate measure would cover the full cost of those bonuses.

A railway project, a student loan debt and more

The two bills differ in various other areas. The Senate added a provision that would exempt student loan forgiveness from income tax until 2025, a step that comes as Mr. Biden has pushed to write off his student loan debt with action management.

Funding for a rail project in Silicon Valley, northern California, which has been criticized by Republicans, was included in the House bill but was removed from the Senate measure after the parliamentarian spoke against.

Another transportation-related allowance in the House bill that drew criticism from Republicans, $ 1.5 million for the International Seaway Bridge between upstate New York and Canada, was also removed from the Senate version.