The stimulus check could come at a political cost 2:30
(CNN) ––
The highest priority for President Joe Biden and Congress is to pass a new $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package.
And the goal is to do so before the round of unemployment benefits and other aid approved in December, which would again leave millions of Americans without help, expire.
At stake in this negotiation are the $ 1,400 stimulus checks that Biden proposed even before he took office.
Plus additional federal money for unemployment.
Democrats have said they will get the stimulus package bill approved in mid-March.
The most crucial week so far for the economic stimulus against covid-19 begins
There are three points to keep in mind about the legislation that House Democrats are proposing:
It is massive.
The new stimulus package will cost about $ 1.9 trillion, in addition to the $ 4 trillion previously approved by former President Donald Trump.
Here you can see what that money was used for.
It is very extensive
.
The bill would include practically everything.
From direct stimulus payments and unemployment benefits extension to helping the airline industry, allocating more money for vaccines and helping troubled school districts.
Currently, it also includes an increase in the federal minimum wage to $ 15, although that may not make it to Congress.
We will expand on this point later.
It is controversial.
Republicans argue that the stimulus package is too big and they want something smaller.
In the same vein, they have indicated that Congress should wait to see how the covid-19 pandemic progresses before deciding to send additional aid.
Democrats are divided on whether or not to include the minimum wage increase.
Which is a priority for progressives, but one that the party's moderates oppose.
However, getting the stimulus package proposal into law will test Biden's calls for unity.
Although in reality they are proposals, in the plural, because there will be different versions between the House, the Senate and the White House that must be reconciled.
Here's what we know about the new stimulus check 0:54
Work on the plan so far has made it clear that most Republicans are reluctant to cooperate with Democrats, who are now in charge.
But it has also revealed that the Democrats - whose control of the Senate rests with Vice President Kamala Harris' runoff vote - are not fully unified.
Here's what we currently know about the stimulus package, where it is going in Congress, and where it is headed.
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The basic list
Everything in the most recent stimulus package proposal, presented in the House,
is here
.
Third economic stimulus check: what the House Democrats' relief plan includes
Everything you need to know about the status of the US $ 1,400 stimulus checks
is here
.
A guide to the complicated procedure Democrats will have to use to push the bill through the 50-50 Senate can be
found here
.
Is there a deadline for the stimulus package to be approved?
Something like that.
The current unemployment benefits, which have already been extended, expire on March 14.
Democrats have indicated that by that date the stimulus package for covid-19 should already be law.
However, there are different proposals to extend these benefits.
In the House of Representatives, Democrats have proposed extending two separate programs for another 24 weeks.
One is for part-time and concert workers.
Meanwhile, the other targets people in more traditional state unemployment programs.
Which are the next steps?
Biden asks Congress for $ 1.9 trillion 2:31
The House version is expected to be voted on this Friday.
Then it will be up to the Senate, which is using the budget reconciliation process.
Any version approved by the Senate should also go through the House.
How many people could lose expanded unemployment benefits in March?
Many.
Maybe more than 11 million.
An estimate by The Century Foundation estimated that 4 million people would lose subsidies in mid-March and another 7.3 million would do so in the following weeks.
The two unemployment programs were created almost a year ago in the CARES Act.
Precisely, Congress approved the legislation in March 2020 and extended its effects in December.
More than a third of Americans reported that their household has struggled to cover expenses during the pandemic, according to a survey conducted by the Census.
Can the new stimulus package be approved in mid-March?
Democrats say yes.
Why you shouldn't expect to receive another stimulus check in weeks (if they send you one)
"We are on our way to finalize this bill and put it on the president's desk before the enhanced unemployment benefits expire, which is March 14."
This was stated this Wednesday by the leader of the majority in the Senate, Chuck Schumer.
Will some Republicans join?
Not seem.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that Republicans visited the White House to ask for a smaller and "more specific" bill.
But Democrats and Biden weren't interested, he added.
"They are going to try to move this forward on a totally partisan basis," McConnell said in conversation with reporters on Wednesday.
How can Democrats pass the bill without the help of Republicans?
This is where things get tricky in the Senate.
The Democrats plan to use a process known as "budget reconciliation."
This procedure, ironically, was developed to keep the federal budget in check.
But it also provides Democrats the only way to circumvent Senate rules and pass things with a simple majority.
Which in this case would only require a party line vote with all the Democrats on board.
This is budget reconciliation (and why it matters for Biden stimulus checks)
What are the main disagreements among Democrats?
However, the most prominent disagreement is among Democrats and is whether or not to include the permanent change to the minimum wage.
This assuming that the Senate allows the salary increase on the bill under the budget rules.
However, all Democrats in the Senate must support the bill to get it passed.
And the big question now is whether the salary will be included in the Senate version of the stimulus package.
Right after Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia said he would oppose the pay increase.
If the minimum wage increase is eliminated, then the question is whether House Democrats like New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can support something that doesn't meet one of their top goals.
You can read more about it here.
Do Republicans Support Increasing the Minimum Wage?
Republican Senators Mitt Romney and Tom Cotton have suggested a federal salary of $ 10. But, Democrats say it is too little and they also want the salary to increase automatically with the cost of living.
What happens next
All of this drama will unfold over the next two weeks.
Meanwhile, Democrats are working to find a way to pass the stimulus package by March 14.
Ocasio-Cortez told CNN she would support the Covid-19 relief package, even if the minimum wage increase is removed.
But he said reasons matter.
"I think it depends on the reason for not being included," Ocasio-Cortez told CNN.
"If the $ 15 is not in the package due to parliamentary reasons, that is a consideration and I would be open to voting on the package."
This on the grounds that if the Senate MP decides to remove the $ 15 minimum wage increase from the package, that decision is "largely a matter of rules-based procedure."
Covid-19 stimulus Economic stimulus relief package