The House of Representatives passed Joe Biden‘s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan early on Saturday morning by a vote of 219-212, sending it to the Senate for approval.
Democrats, who hold a majority in the House and Senate, have enough confirmed votes to all but guarantee the bill’s enactment.
The current Biden American Rescue Plan includes a $400 per week supplement to all unemployment checks and an extension of benefits until August 29, a $1,400 payment to almost all American adults and an identical sum for each dependent child, $20 billion for vaccination programs, $50 billion for testing, $350 billion in multilevel government relief, staggered additional payments totaling $3,600 per dependent child for a year, $170 billion for public schools and higher education student aid and plans to increase the federal minimum wage to $15.
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled against Biden’s plan to increase the federal minimum wage and the White House has no plans to fight her ruling. While Biden has since said he is “disappointed” with the decision, he will respect the parliamentarian’s ruling.
Economists are optimistic about the bill’s effects for both businesses and workers. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in February that under the Biden plan, American could be fully employed against by 2022.
After MacDonough’s decision, the Senate will pass Biden’s plan through a procedure known as reconciliation. The motion means that Biden’s plan can be made into law without the traditionally required filibusterer-proof 60 vote super-majority. Expected to be passed on party lines, Vice President Kamala Harris plans to break the senate tie in favor of the president’s plan.
