Senate passes COVID relief bill in 50-49 vote
The late-afternoon sun shines on downtown Woodstock, Vermont (Gareth Henderson Photo)
After a lengthy overnight session, the U.S. Senate passed the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill shortly after noon on Saturday.
The bill was approved on a party-line vote of 50-49, with all 50 Senate Democrats voting in favor. One Republican was absent for the tally. Democrats used the budget reconciliation process to avoid needing a 60-vote filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.
The legislation now goes up for another vote in the House, where Democrats hope for swift approval so the package can quickly advance to President Joe Biden for his signature. Enhanced federal unemployment benefits are set to expire March 14.
The massive bill includes $1,400 stimulus payments to individuals making up to $75,000 per year, and $2,800 checks to married couples making up to $150,000 per year. The plan also extends enhanced federal unemployment benefits to September at the amount of $300 per week. Additionally, it provides more money for the manufacturing and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, aid to state and local governments, additional funding for food and nutrition assistance, among a host of other items.
The bill once included an increase to a $15 minimum wage, however this was excluded from the proposal after the Senate parliamentarian ruled it wasn’t allowable under budget reconciliation.
Throughout the week, Republican senators heavily criticized the bill, calling it too large and saying some portions of it were not related to the COVID response. Some also said the state aid in the bill was excessive and unfairly distributed.
On Friday, U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), president pro-tem of the Senate, joined Vermont Gov. Phil Scott at a press briefing, underscoring the ways the relief bill would help with the vaccination effort and other local needs. He particularly mentioned $100 million coming to the state for infrastructure, such as broadband. Leahy said he’d heard from many Vermont families whose lack of access to reliable broadband limits their children’s ability to attend school online.
“They’re doing it virtually, but they don't have adequate broadband to do it here in Vermont,” Leahy said. “They do in some parts of the state, but not in others.”
Leahy also said many voters he’s spoken with don’t view the COVID-19 bill through a partisan lens.
“They don’t care whether we’re Republicans, Democrats or independents. They just want our state to be the way it was,” Leahy said. “They want to hug their children, they want to have cookouts with their neighbors, they want to go to church or synagogue, they want to go to the grocery store.”
That return to some sense of normalcy was a big part of the president’s remarks after Saturday’s vote, as was economic relief. With swift final approval, the direct stimulus payments can start to go out to Americans this month, Biden told reporters.
“Everything in this package is designed to relieve the suffering and to meet the most urgent needs of the nation and put us in a better position to prevail,” Biden said.
But Republicans strongly disagreed, as reflected in Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s response to Democrats on the Senate floor on Saturday.
“The Senate has never spent $2 trillion in a more haphazard way, or through a less rigorous process,” McConnell said.
He said the bill was “stuffed with non-COVID-related spending” and said the process ran counter to Biden’s promise to work toward unity.
“We could have worked together to speed up victory, but our Democratic colleagues made a decision,” McConnell said. “Their top priority wasn’t pandemic relief. It was their Washington wish list.”
Shortly after the minority leader ended his appeal for a “no” vote, it was clear no members were changing their stances, and Leahy declared the Senate vote final at 50-49.
— Gareth Henderson
