Incoming president, Joe Biden, has revealed the framework of a new relief plan and it certainly includes stimulus checks. The plan, set to cost about $1.9 trillion, also has more support for unemployment benefits, and much more. Of course, it remains at the proposal stage and has not been approved yet, because Joe Biden hasn’t been inaugurated and is technically not yet president.
Biden’s proposed relief plan is named the “American Rescue Plan” and is geared toward helping families and businesses maintain and sustain their livelihood for the time being, something many Americans needed, despite being sent stimulus checks for $1,200 and $600.
Biden previously said the $600 stimulus check was not enough.
- Direct payments of $1,400 to most Americans, bringing the total relief to $2,000, including December’s $600 payments
- Increasing the federal, per-week unemployment benefit to $400 and extending it through the end of September
- Increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour
- Extending the eviction and foreclosure moratoriums until the end of September
- $350 billion in state and local government aid
- $170 billion for K-12 schools and institutions of higher education
- $50 billion toward Covid-19 testing
- $20 billion toward a national vaccine program in partnership with states, localities and tribes
- Making the Child Tax Credit fully refundable for the year and increasing the credit to $3,000 per child ($3,600 for a child under age 6)
CNBC also reported that another proposed plan will take place in February, making this a two part approach to providing relief to Americans, with both short and long term goals.
When it comes to student loan forgiveness, Biden is currently supporting a $10,000 amount in forgiveness, according to some of his senior officials. This is an amount much lower than what many Americans would like to see.
Biden’s proposals must still be negotiated and approved and can be changed at any time until they are signed off on.