TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Biden signs $1.9 trilion coronavirus relief package into law
The package will deliver checks of up to $1,400 per person to most households, making it the third round of direct payments provided amid the health crisis that has continued for about a year.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
US President Joe Biden signs an executive order related to American manufacturing in the South Court Auditorium of the White House complex on January 25, 2021 in Washington, DC. President Biden signed an executive order aimed at boosting American manufacturing and strengthening the federal government's Buy American rules. (Agence France-Presse/Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
U
S President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law a $1.9 trillion relief package to support businesses and households battered by the coronavirus pandemic, a major legislative win for the administration less than two months old.
The package will deliver checks of up to $1,400 per person to most households, making it the third round of direct payments provided amid the health crisis that has continued for about a year.
It will also assist efforts to combat the pandemic by such means as providing funding to set up community coronavirus vaccination sites nationwide, extend unemployment benefits and support schools to re-open safely.
"This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country," Biden said as he signed the American Rescue Plan Act at the White House.
In March last year, the country rolled out a $2.2 trillion relief package, which amounted to roughly 10 percent of gross domestic product and was the largest stimulus of its kind in U.S. history. In December, a $900 billion relief package was signed into law.
Biden, who was sworn in on Jan. 20, had vowed to send the $1,400 checks to households across America on top of the $600 payment provided through the December relief package.
Under a compromise agreement, no one earning more than $80,000 a year will be eligible for the $1,400 direct payment.
Biden, a Democrat, included in his original proposal an increase of the minimum wage to $15 per hour. But the measure did not make its way into the amended bill that passed the Senate, a chamber evenly divided between the Democrats and Republicans.
The bill was sent to the House of Representatives and approved Wednesday.
Biden was initially planning to sign the bill on Friday, but the schedule changed because it was received by the White House earlier than anticipated, according to White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
The United States is the country worst affected by the pandemic in terms of the number of cases and deaths. Millions of Americans have also remained out of work as the virus outbreak has continued to weigh on business and other activities in the world's largest economy.
