Now that former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is over, all eyes on Capitol Hill are turning to President Joe Biden’s massive $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, which appears to be headed for approval down partisan lines. The Democratic majority in the House of Representatives already voted to approve the plan, meaning the Senate will take it up sometimes this week.
While the plan will likely need Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote in the Senate to snap the 50-50 gridlock, it appears to be headed to President Biden’s desk before March 14, which is when some crucial unemployment benefits are set to expire.
With passage seemingly imminent, we thought we’d take a closer look at the $1.9 trillion mega-bill.
A Growing Number of Americans Support it
While Democrats and Republicans are split down partisan lines over the bill, it’s very popular with the American public. In fact, according to a poll from Politico and Morning Consult, more than 75 percent of voting Americans support the $1.9 trillion bill, including 60 percent of Republican voters. So while Congress is divided over its support for it, the American public is not.
Why is it unfavorable with the GOP? They claim it’s too big and doles out too much money to states and local governments that aren’t related to ending the pandemic. Why is it popular with the American people? We have 1,400 reasons why…
Will I Get My Check?
As promised on the campaign trail for the Georgia run-off elections late last year and early this year, additional stimulus checks were contingent on electing Democratic Senators. Those two elected Democratic Georgia Senators are now making good on their promise with their support for this package, as additional $1,400 stimulus checks for all qualifying adults and eligible dependents are part of it.
Do you qualify? It’s easy to tell. To claim the entirety of the check, your adjusted gross income (AGI) must be no more than $75,000 if you’re a solo filer — or $150,000 for joint-filing married couples. To find your AGI, just scroll to line 11 on Form 1040 of your 2020 tax return or line 8b of your 2019 return.
What Else Does the Bill Do?
In addition to stimulus checks for eligible Americans, the stimulus package is poised to allocate major dollars to vaccination programs ($20 billion), testing programs ($50 billion), and inject funds into struggling state and local governments ($350 million). It will also offer enhanced unemployment benefits to the tune of an additional $400 per week to out-of-work professionals. As the bill stands now, it also includes a provision to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025, but there’s doubt that this will remain in the final bill that goes to President Biden’s desk.
