The Senate voted 58-42 Friday night to reject Senator Bernie Sanders’ attempt to add a $ 15 minimum wage to President Biden’s $ 1.9 million COVID-19 emergency, and is now ready. to work well into Saturday in an overnight marathon of haggling over the massive measure.
The so-called “vote-a-rama” – which allows senators to submit and discuss limitless amendments – came to objections from Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who late Friday denounced the Democrat condemning the drag to hold the vote until Saturday. 10.00 am.
“They want to start with the mood-a-rama that could have been done in daylight because of their own confusion and the challenge of getting 50 people together to agree on something,” McConnell had tormented when he asked for a reprieve.
He was referring to a 12-hour logjam from earlier Friday, in which Democrats struggled to unite the 50 members of their caucus, a deadlock that eventually ended just before 11 p.m., with a last-minute compromise with centrist Democrat Senator Joe Manchin over unemployment benefits.
“Now that this agreement has been reached, we’re going to go through the rest of the process and finalize this bill,” promised Senate Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY).
Democrats, who narrowly control the Senate, had postponed plans to begin voting on amendments early Friday afternoon after Manchin (DW.Va.) sided with Republicans by demanding that unemployment benefits be cut.
That particular logging outage was cut after nine hours, with a compromise that would get $ 300 weekly benefits through September 6, along with a tax break on the benefits.
A federal unemployment benefit approved in December – at $ 300 a week – expires this month.
The house-approved version of Biden’s bill had a more generous weekly unemployment benefit of $ 400 through August.
The last-minute negotiations were Manchin’s first major power game, which alone could derail Biden’s legislative agenda in the equally divided Senate.
Biden got less than 30 percent of the vote in West Virginia, leaving Manchin under no obligation to queue.
The evening compromise – and the downward vote on the minimum wage hike – paves the way for the marathon series of votes on the sweeping aid package, with the vote expected to last well into Saturday.
In addition to the $ 300 increase in weekly unemployment benefits, the Senate’s COVID-19 bill provides for:
• A benefit of $ 1,400 per person, including children, for individuals earning less than $ 75,000 per year or married couples earning less than $ 150,000 per year.
• A total of $ 350 billion in aid to municipalities, states, and the District of Columbia.
• An extension of the current 15 percent increase in food stamps through September.
• Approximately $ 20 billion in housing aid for state and local governments.
• Nearly $ 130 billion for primary schools to help children return to their classrooms.
• $ 15 billion for small businesses, through the Emergency Injury Disaster Loan program.
• $ 75 billion for vaccinations, testing, and other pandemic medical supplies.
• An annual tax credit of $ 3,600 per child under the age of 6 and $ 3,000 per child under the age of 17.
Budget reconciliation rules allow a bare majority vote in favor of legislation to pass the equally divided Senate, where Vice President Kamala Harris cuts ties in favor of the Democrats.
The Senate version of the bill has already undergone major changes.
Biden signed a steeper phaseout of $ 1,400 incentive checks this week, meaning people making more than $ 80,000 a year won’t see a dime, compared to a $ 100,000 cap in the House version.
The Senate MP dropped key provisions opposed by Republicans and some centrist Democrats, including $ 140 million for a railroad project near the California district of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Republicans largely say the bill is unnecessary and wasteful, stressing that much of the money won’t be spent until the pandemic is over.
For example, the bill includes $ 129 billion for elementary schools, but the Congressional Budget Office estimates that about 95 percent will not be spent by 2021 because the funds approved for schools last year were not spent.
For parents, the bill authorizes an annual tax credit of $ 3,600 per child under the age of 6 and $ 3,000 per child up to the age of 17.
Those funds are also being phased out for earners over $ 75,000 or joint filers over $ 150,000.
A family of four earning less than $ 150,000 could pull an additional $ 14,000 off the bill, according to an analysis by CNBC.