LOUISIANA – President Joe Biden has pushed his COVID-19 American Rescue Plan all the way through the United States House of Representatives. Now the bill sits in front of the United States Senate, waiting for their move on it.
This COVID package has a lot of attention on it from the general public, much more than a normal budget reconciliation bill in the US legislature. Mostly because this package contains $1,400 direct payments to most Americans.
Those $1,400 direct “stimulus” payments would act similarly to the previous two COVID “stimulus” payments that most Americans have received since the start of the pandemic. Just like the first two, these payments will phase out for individuals who make $75,000 a year, and married couples who make $150,000 a year.
So when could we see these payments?
- The US House passed the bill on Saturday, which moved it to the US Senate.
- However the Senate did not want to vote on the exact bill from the House, because of a minimum wage increase.
- The Senate asked the Senate Parliamentarian to review if the minimum wage increase, and the Parliamentarian removed it from the bill.
- Now the Senate and White House are arguing over the inclusion of the minimum wage piece of the bill, because it is contained in the language of the House version.
- The Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, can overrule the Senate Parliamentarian, but she has said she will not.
- The Senate is also debating other potential amendments to the bill.
- Even with all of this, there is a ticking clock. The White House wants this bill enacted (fully passed and signed by President Biden) by March 14th. That’s when COVID protections are set to expire across the Federal Government.
So even with all of the moving parts, what we know for sure is that the bill will pass, and it will include the $1,400 payments. There are other moving parts to the bill, which will take a few days to clear up, but none of those have to do with the stimulus payments.
