Feb. 7 (UPI) — House Democrats plan to introduce legislation Monday to provide $3,000 per child to tens of millions of families as part of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package.
Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee is crafting the legislation and will introduce the enhanced Child Tax Credit on Monday, The Washington Post and CNN reported.
“The pandemic is driving families deeper and deeper into poverty and it’s devastating. We are making the Child Tax Credit more generous, more accessible and by paying it out monthly, this money is going to be the difference in a roof over someone’s head or food on their table,” Neal told CNN.
Under the proposal, the Internal Revenue Service would provide $3,600 over the course of the year per person younger than 6 years old and $3,000 per year for children aged 6-17, with payments sent monthly beginning in July. It also includes a provision decreasing the payments for couples who earn more than $75,000 per year and couples earning more than $150,000 per year, The Washington Post reported.
The proposal comes after the Senate approved a budget resolution and the House passed a budget blueprint instructing committees to begin drafting its own relief legislation, the first step toward a reconciliation process which allows House Democrats to bypass needing at least 10 Republicans to vote to advance the legislation.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CNN’s State of the Union that the stimulus bill could avoid an unnecessarily drawn-out economic recovery as Democrats in Congress ready to pass the plan, which would provide $1,400 direct payments to some Americans and extended unemployment relief, without Republican support.
“There’s absolutely no reason why we should suffer through a long slow recovery,” Yellen said. “I would expect that if this package is passed that we would get back to full employment next year.”
Yellen also cited Congressional analysis that the stimulus deal would promote long-term employment after the unemployment rate fell to 6.3% last month.
“The Congressional Budget Office issued an analysis recently and it showed that if we don’t provide additional support, the unemployment rate is going to stay elevated for years to come,” she said. “It would take until 2025 in order to get the unemployment rate down to 4% again.”
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said Sunday that Biden’s proposal is too large, citing comments by former President Barack Obama’s economic adviser, Larry Summers, that the package could cause inflation.
“This package is way too big, based on the fact that we don’t even know how much of the $900 billion from December, has already — even been obligated, much less spent,” Wicker said in reference to remaining funds from a previous relief package. “And he said, this is going to be inflationary so we need to be careful.”
However, Yellen, who previously served as the chair of the Federal Reserve, said the U.S. has “the tools to deal with” the inflation risk, adding that the potential economic damage due to lack of support following the pandemic is much greater.
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg told ABC News’ This Week that the importance of delivering economic relief to Americans will ensure that Democrats pass the measure.
“Each passing day the need for relief becomes more urgent, ensuring that we have the resources to defeat this virus, but also to support American working families,” he said.
Buttigieg added that while some Republicans have pushed back against the bill’s price tag, that there is bipartisan support amongst Americans for its provisions.
“That’s not just a unifying priority for the Democratic coalition and something that has a remarkably large degree of support among Republicans — at least among Republican voters, Republican mayors — we’re hoping that will also show up among Republican legislators here in Washington. But, of course, that’s what the next few days will show,” he said.
