Joe Biden will present a new emergency stimulus package of 1.9 trillion dollars on Thursday evening, supposed to bring the United States out of its worst crisis since the 1930s, and will be followed in the coming weeks by an investment plan to revive the economy.
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“We want to move forward as quickly as possible,” said a senior manager of Joe Biden’s team. This plan will be presented to elected members of Congress, who will have to vote on its adoption.
The text provides that Americans receive a new check of $ 1,400 per person based on income.
The $ 900 billion plan adopted in December, considered a “down payment” by Joe Biden, had put $ 600 in the pocket of each person, subject to income. But the Democrats, in an unusual deal with outgoing President Donald Trump, demanded $ 2,000.
Additional unemployment assistance, of which 18 million Americans are still living, will be extended until the end of September as well as the possibility of taking paid sick leave in the event of contamination with Covid-19.
“No American should have to choose between putting food on the table and quarantining themselves to prevent the spread” of the virus, according to these senior officials.
Extension of the suspension of rental evictions and foreclosures until the end of September, or even reinforced food aid, also appear in this text.
These measures were put in place in March as part of the massive $ 2.2 trillion stimulus package, the Cares Act, which was passed in less than two weeks by Democrats and Republicans.
Joe Biden’s plan also provides for legislation to extend this aid as long as necessary.
Tests and vaccinations
New measures are also proposed.
Starting with the pace of tests and vaccinations against Covid-19, which must be accelerated to allow activity to resume.
Because it will take months for restaurants, bars, hotels, or even airlines, to regain a correct level of activity.
Reopening schools, still largely closed in the United States or attended only part-time by students, is also a priority.
He set 100 days for the majority of schoolchildren to return to school, allowing their parents to return to work, while women have paid a heavy price, and have overwhelmingly had to resign or stop looking for a job. employment to take care of their children.
The president-elect also hopes to pass the increase in the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour, more than double the current $ 7.25.
An envelope of 350 billion dollars is planned to allow local and national authorities to maintain the employment of educators, police, firefighters and public health workers.
But this latest measure risks arousing the ire of Republicans in the Senate, who had blocked at the end of 2020 any economic support plan including funds for municipalities.
It is likely to complicate the adoption of the Biden plan, because the Democrats have a very narrow majority in Congress.
The tax hike, planned in his campaign program, for the country’s largest companies and people earning more than $ 400,000 a year, was not mentioned, however.
“Well-paid” jobs
This plan is ambitious, but achievable, ruled these senior officials, who requested anonymity.
The stimulus plan must respond to the emergency, and prevent the United States and Americans from sinking deeper into the crisis.
It will be followed by an innovative investment plan aimed at economic recovery, the outlines of which will be defined in the coming weeks. He will have to create the millions of “well-paid” jobs promised by Joe Biden during his campaign, respond to the climate emergency, or even reduce racial inequalities.
It will be up to Janet Yellen, who is expected to become Secretary of the Treasury – the equivalent of the Minister of Economy and Finance – to lead the negotiations with elected officials on behalf of the government.
If unemployment remained stable in December in the United States, at 6.7%, this is the first time since May that the situation has not improved.