Congress is writing up Biden’s stimulus plan. Here’s what’s in it.

Photo caption: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks with reporters outside the White House after meeting with President Joe Biden to discuss Covid-19 relief efforts on February 5. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images. Article by Emily Stewart. Vox – February 22, 2021.

Stimulus checks, UI, and a $15 minimum wage: the state of the House’s stimulus bill so far.

We’re beginning to see what the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 stimulus package might actually look like.

The House of Representatives has been busy drafting its version of the budget reconciliation package, which includes $1,400 stimulus checks for those making up to $75,000, $400 expanded weekly unemployment insurance benefits through August 29, and, as it stands now, increasing the minimum wage to $15 by 2025. It also contains a restaurant rescue fund, money for reopening schools, and Democrats’ long-sought-after funding for state and local governments, among other items.

The biggest ticket items have been among the most contentious: Though there was some discussion of further targeting for stimulus checks, the House proposal winds up pretty close to Biden’s original plan. The $1,400 stimulus checks are for those making up to $75,000 a year, and the checks phase out at $100,000 yearly income (there has been quite a bit of back-and-forth over whether to aim them more precisely at lower-income people). […]

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