Congress approved a sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill Wednesday, sending what has been termed the “American Rescue Plan” to President Joe Biden’s desk for approval.
The process of getting more relief to Americans suffering during the pandemic has been fraught with partisan politics, and the package was pushed through with virtually no Republican support.
Once signed, the bill will send many Americans $1,400 stimulus checks. The bill also broadens unemployment benefits, beefs up programs like food stamps and those for struggling businesses, directs aid to child care providers, provides tax credits to some people with children and broadens health insurance eligibility.
“Help is here,” Biden tweeted Thursday after the bill cleared the House.
But U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler lambasted the bill, saying it’s “not what Southwest Washington families want” and “not what America needs right now.”
Herrera Buetler and other Republican lawmakers have condemned the bill as a laundry-list of long-standing Democratic priorities.
“In the last year I have already supported $4 trillion worth of COVID-related relief for Americans, and $1 trillion of it remains unspent. I would support a sixth COVID bill that gets direct aid to families and boosts vaccine delivery — but the current bill tacked on a bloated wishlist of non-essential items like wiping out most of San Francisco’s budget deficit with a $600 million payment,” the Battle Ground Republican said in a statement to The Chronicle. “Americans need vaccines and COVID relief now, they need their kids back in the classrooms, but this bill inexplicably only dedicates 9% of its $1.9 trillion price tag toward combating the virus and holds two-thirds of the money for education until after 2023. Is Congress saying it doesn’t expect schools to be opened for two more years?”
Supporters have pushed back, citing polls, including one from Pew Research Center, showing a broad swath of Americans in favor of the legislation.
Washington’s U.S. Sen. Patty Murray Thursday applauded the stimulus bill for its effort to dramatically reduce childhood poverty via tax credits that, in effect, provide a guaranteed income from many families with children. The program has been characterized as a dramatic shift in the country’s approach to child welfare, and one that aligns the U.S. with many European countries.
For Washington state alone, several billion dollars will begin streaming in both the state and local governments.
