WASHINGTON, D. C. - Democrats who control the levers of power in Washington are taking the first step towards making good on President Joe Biden’s pledge to approve a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill with a House of Representatives vote on the “American Rescue Plan.” The measure was approved early Saturday morning by a 219 to 212 margin, with support from all Ohio’s Democrats and opposition from all its Republicans.
Details of the bill, particularly its inclusion of a gradual increase of the minimum wage to $15, are likely to change as it works its way through the U.S. Senate. Democrats are using a process called “reconciliation” to pass the bill, which allows approval of spending and debt limit legislation with a simple majority vote, instead of the 60 votes that would otherwise be required under Senate filibuster rules. On Thursday, the Senate parliamentarian ruled the minimum wage increase wouldn’t qualify for inclusion under those conditions, so wage increase advocates are examining their options to pursue it.
Republicans including Ohio’s Sen. Rob Portman criticize the legislation for including measures unrelated to coronavirus relief, and for throwing too much money at the problem in a way that Portman describes as “not targeted, not focused.” He says that less than half the money in a $900 billion coronavirus relief package enacted at the end of 2020 has been spent, and analyses of the current package indicate less than half the money it contains would be spent in this calendar year.
Portman questions the need for so much spending given projections the economy will likely recover to pre-COVID-19 levels by the middle of next year. He cited warnings from Clinton-era Democratic Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers that such a large package will trigger inflation, threatening the value of the dollar and financial stability. Portman says he’s disappointed it was devised without Republican input, flouting Biden’s campaign and inaugural address pledges to seek consensus.
“Right now, I don’t know that it will receive any Republican support because it is legislation that does not seem to be targeted towards the real problems that we have,” Portman told reporters on Wednesday.
Ohio’s Democratic U.S. Senator, Sherrod Brown, said Wednesday “there’s just no question in my mind” that the Senate will adopt the bill. He said it would prevent evictions “in the middle of a pandemic in the middle of the winter,” and provide more help for small businesses, as well as money to help public schools reopen amid the pandemic.
The bill also contains a provision Brown champions to shore up multi-employer pension plans whose shaky financial status threatens the retirement of 1.3 million workers and retirees around the nation. An estimated 60,000 Ohioans participate in affected pension systems that cover pools of union members who work for different companies in industries like trucking, mining and construction.
“I’m strongly supportive of it,” Brown said of the relief package. “I’ve heard Republican after Republican say they oppose doing this. I just think they’re wrong and they’re out of step with the public.”
Brown, who strongly advocates increasing the minimum wage to $15, on Friday responded to the parliamentarian’s decision by issuing a statement that said: “I’m committed to getting American workers a raise and will not let Senate procedure stand in the way. I’ve said for years that taxpayers shouldn’t be subsidizing megacorporations that pay poverty wages.”
An analysis from the Center for American Progress, which is headed by Biden’s embattled nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden, says measures in the American Rescue Plan are needed to help Ohio’s economy recover from the pandemic’s effects. The organization says recent polling shows Ohioans support Biden’s package by a 17-point margin.
A breakdown provided by the group says the legislation before the House of Representatives would:
• Provide another round of direct checks to Ohioans by sending $1,400 payments to most Americans on top of $600 payments that went out earlier this year and the $1,200 disseminated in 2020. Individuals making up to $75,000 and couples making up to $150,000 would get the full payment, which would be phased out for higher income earners. The first round of direct checks reached 6.1 million Ohioans as of June 2020 and provided $10.1 billion in spending power to the state. Additional $1,400 checks would provide $8.1 billion to the poorest 60 percent of Ohioans, a group whose average annual income is just $30,600, the group said.
• Prevent layoffs and service cuts in state and local governments. The $350 billion the bill contains to fill pandemic-related shortfalls in state and local government budgets would provide $5.7 billion to the state of Ohio and $5.4 billion to local governments in the state.
• Extend the federal moratoria on evictions and foreclosures. The organization estimates that 470,000 Ohioans are at risk of homelessness. Its statistics indicate 2.8 million Ohioans—33 percent of the state’s adults —have fallen behind on basic household expenses, and protection from eviction and foreclosure would prevent widespread financial crisis.
• Extend federal unemployment benefits by providing $400 supplemental weekly payments through August. The organization’s statistics indicate 450,000 Ohioans are at risk of losing benefits when the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Unemployment Emergency Compensation expire.
• Provide $4.7 billion for schools in Ohio to safely reopen. The money would help school districts repair ventilation systems, reduce class sizes, purchase personal protective equipment and hire support staff.
• Increase the child tax credit to $3,000 per child, provide an additional $600 per child under the age of 6, make it fully refundable, and extend the maximum qualifying age to 17 to assist the caretakers of the 990,000 eligible children in Ohio. An expansion of this magnitude would provide an additional $2.5 billion to the poorest 60 percent of Ohioans, the organization says.
• Raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 over five years. The organization says a $15 minimum wage would not only give 1.8 million Ohioans—35 percent of the state’s workforce—a raise, but it would also provide an extra $5.5 billion in total state wages and even more in economic activity. This provision of the bill may be removed from the final legislation or significantly altered because of the Senate parliamentarian’s decision.
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