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| Joe Biden speaking with supporters at a community event at Sun City MacDonald Ranch in Henderson, Nevada - Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons - |
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Thursday night, President-elect Joe Biden took the stage to reveal his $1.9 trillion economic rescue package proposal to combat the ongoing COVID pandemic.
"The very health of our nation is at stake... We will finish the job of getting a total of $2,000 in cash relief to people who need it the most."
Biden spoke about topics including small business financial support, stimulus checks, and a $15/hour federal minimum wage, overviewing the investments outlined in his rescue plan. He promised a better vaccine distribution, vowing to deliver 100 million shots in his first 100 days. The President-elect also previewed the "Build Back Better" plan he intends to introduce next month. He spoke on stage for twenty-two minutes and did not take any questions.
Biden's economic rescue plan includes an increased stimulus check, increased unemployment aid, and more.
In contrast with previous stimulus packages, Biden's plan calls for an additional $1,400 per person to all eligible recipients. The new payments would include groups previously left out of stimulus distribution, most notably adult dependents, like college students who were claimed on their parents' tax returns, and households with mixed immigration statuses.
When it comes to the COVID crisis, Biden's plan calls for an investment of $20 billion for distribution efforts and an additional $50 billion to expand COVID testing. "The vaccine rollout in the United States has been a dismal failure thus far," Biden stated on the matter. A total of $400 billion is allotted to fight COVID.
$170 billion is dedicated to K-12 schools and higher education, including a $130 billion investment for the safe reopening of schools. Biden also proposes billions for child care assistance, rental assistance, federal food assistance, subsidies for health insurance premiums, and tribal governments' pandemic response. The plan would reinstate paid sick and family leave benefits and extend the benefit to workers excluded from the original program.
On the small business front, the plan calls for $15 billion to fund the creation of a new grant program in addition to the already-existing Paycheck Protection Program and $35 billion to invest in programs that provide low-interest loans and venture capital to start-ups and entrepreneurs.
The plan is already being embraced by a flood of statements from Democratic lawmakers, as well as being welcomed by statements from business organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Travel Association, and the National Retail Federation.