President Biden
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Biden expressed support for the threshold during a meeting with the heads of several large companies in the Oval Office. He hosted company executives to solicit buy-in for his $ 1.9 trillion emergency relief proposal and to discuss future economic measures such as an infrastructure package and an increase in the minimum wage.
“I’m curious what these business leaders have to say about how we’re addressing this problem and to see if we can find common ground,” said Biden.
Attendees at Tuesday’s meeting included JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, US Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Donohue, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon and Gap Inc. CEO Sonia Syngal.
Biden was joined in the Oval Office by Vice President Harris and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen
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The meeting comes as the White House and Congressional Democrats are working to push through Biden’s economic aid package, which would send direct payments to millions of Americans, provide funding for schools as well as state and local governments, and money for the distribution of vaccines.
House Democrats released important parts of their coronavirus control bill on Monday evening. The proposal called for direct payments of $ 1,400 to single taxpayers with annual income of up to $ 75,000 and married couples making up $ 150,000.
Payments would wind down quickly above those income thresholds, and single people with incomes over $ 100,000 and married couples with incomes over $ 200,000 would not be eligible for any payment.
Where direct payments should be discontinued was a point of contention among some moderate Democrats who were concerned that stimulus controls were not targeted enough and suggested that payments should be stopped sooner.
But progressives argued that income requirements should not be tightened so that people who lost substantial income during the pandemic could quickly receive their payments.