BARELY: U.S. Senate Passes $1.9 Trillion COVID Bill
Posted on 03/06/2021
On March 6, 2021, the U.S. Senate narrowly passed U.S. President Biden’s US$ 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan. After 27 hours of debate, the bill passed in the Senate in a party-line vote of 50-49. Democrats were united in the Senate. Republicans argued the legislation is too big and bloated. The bill now heads back to the U.S. House of Representatives for final approval, which is controlled by the Democrats. The bill would then be sent to Biden for signature.
The economic relief legislation is broadly popular, according to a slew of political pools. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned in the U.S. presidential election on US$ 2,000 payments to people for COVID relief.
The COVID bill is officially called the American Rescue Plan Act. The bill is double the size of the Obama-era stimulus.
Direct Payments
The bill will send US$ 1,400 payments to individuals earning less than US$ 75,000 per year and couples earning less than $150,000 per year based on either 2019 or 2020 tax returns. The payments phase out fully for those individuals making US$ 80,000 per year and couples making US$ 160,000 per year.
US$ 350 billion is going for state and local governments.
