WASHINGTON (AP) – Let the sales push begin.
President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their husbands open an ambitious cross-country tour this week to highlight the benefits of his $ 1.9 trillion plan to beat the coronavirus and boost the economy.
The roadshow – dubbed the “Help is Here” tour by the White House – kicks off Monday with Harris heading to a COVID-19 vaccination site and culinary academy in Las Vegas and first lady Jill Biden touring a New Jersey elementary school. .
The president will have more to say about the plan in the White House on Monday and plans to visit a small business in Delaware County, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. He and Harris will appear together in Atlanta on Friday.
Harris will meet with small business owners in Denver on Tuesday. Wednesday sees Jill Biden in Concord, New Hampshire, and Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The stops at vaccination sites, businesses, schools, and more are designed to educate the public on various aspects of the giant US rescue plan and how it will help people get on the other side of the coronavirus pandemic
Biden has said that President Barack Obama’s administration, in which Biden was vice president, did not adequately educate the public about the benefits of his economic recovery plan. He said he wants to do better sales this time on the details of his first major legislative victory.
One of the main features of the plan is $ 1,400 instant payments to a single taxpayer, or $ 2,800 for a married couple filing their tax returns jointly, plus $ 1,400 per dependent – for a total of $ 5,600 for a married couple with two children. Benefits are gradually being phased out for people with higher incomes.
An extension of federal unemployment benefits will continue through September 6 at $ 300 a week. There is $ 350 billion for state, local, and tribal governments, $ 130 billion for elementary schools, and about $ 50 billion to expand COVID-19 testing, among other measures.
Restaurants and bars that have been forced to close or restrict will benefit from a new multi-billion dollar grant program, and the plan also includes tens of billions of dollars to help those who are behind on their rent and mortgage payments.
The bill passed Congress without any support from Republicans, despite polls that found widespread public support for the plan. Republicans thought the bill was too expensive. Democrats provided the votes, and Biden signed it into law last week.
The Help is Here tour takes Harris on her first domestic journey as vice president. She will be joined by her husband, the country’s first ‘second gentleman’, who plans to break down for separate events in Las Vegas on Monday and New Mexico on Wednesday.
Since taking office, Harris has chaired swearing-in ceremonies for members of Biden’s cabinet. She has assisted the president in his speeches, made her own remarks, spoke by phone with several world leaders and performed in the Washington area, including at the funeral services for power broker Vernon Jordan in Washington.
Harris also cast three casting votes in the 50-50 Senate in her role as Senate President.
Jill Biden will be joined by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on a tour Monday at Samuel Smith Elementary School in Burlington, where she is expected to share how the plan will help families and communities, and draw attention to the steps the school has taken to reopen.
The first lady has maintained a robust schedule focused on education, military families, and cancer research since stepping into her new role. Earlier this month, she and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona visited public schools in Connecticut and Pennsylvania that had reopened during the pandemic.
An entertainment attorney, Emhoff has also performed a few times in the Washington area in between teaching Georgetown Law. He plans to visit a food aid organization in Las Vegas on Monday and participate in a listening session with the organization’s partners.
In addition to the president, vice president and their husbands, cabinet secretaries will also be on tour. Hundreds of mayors and governors, including Republicans, line up to give interviews to discuss what the plan means for their communities.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was scheduled to visit a UPS distribution center in Landover, Maryland, that also supplies vaccines in the Washington area on Monday.
Associated Press writer Hope Yen contributed to this report.