- A Biden administration looks very likely to push for a new stimulus bill with a price tag of at least $1 trillion if former Vice President Joe Biden wins the November presidential election.
- That’s according to Biden advisors who’ve been telling reporters what a new stimulus plan might look like once Biden takes office and ahead of the more broad economic package Biden will push for that seeks to do much more than just address the current coronavirus crisis.
- Trump has also been supportive of the idea of another $1 trillion or so stimulus package. The sticking point, at least for now, has been getting such a plan through Congress.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden appears all but certain to push for a new stimulus bill with at least a $1 trillion price tag come January if he wins the November presidential election.
That’s according to Biden advisors who’ve been telling reporters in recent days that they feel the economy is getting worse with each passing day, and they think another massive stimulus package is needed in advance of Biden’s almost $3 trillion “Build Back Better” plan that would come later in the spring of 2021. Again, the caveat being if he’s elected. There are a little more than four months between now and the point when whoever wins this fall will be sworn in come January — plenty of time for the economy to continue to deteriorate and for the coronavirus pandemic to continue to run its course, threatening to complicate matters even further for whoever will be the nation’s 46th chief executive.
Economists working as surrogates and advisors for Biden’s campaign have been telling outlets like Axios that Biden wants to “go big” straight out of the gate, in a way that’s reminiscent of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that was passed in the first weeks of the Obama presidency. Many Biden advisors were there in the Obama administration — as was Biden himself, of course — and don’t want to make the same mistake now that some of them believed was made then — namely, that the first relief package isn’t as big as they think it needs to be.
That’s partly because Biden’s team thinks things will get a lot worse before they take over, with them envisioning everything from major budget shortfalls at the state and local level, as well as a massive wave of business bankruptcies.
Here are some of the elements of a stimulus plan we could reportedly see right away from a Biden administration (assuming he could actually push this through Congress):
- Biden has already unveiled this part of his broad economic vision for the country, and some or all of this would no doubt make its way into a more immediate stimulus plan — such as, no surprise, a new round of stimulus checks.
- Look for a Biden administration to also launch an $8,000 annual tax credit for parents who have young children.
- Paying for health insurance for people who’ve just lost their job is another idea, as well as pushing for greater paid sick leave benefits for workers.
- Along similar lines, Biden’s economic roadmap includes strengthening unemployment systems and pushing for greater benefits for the newly jobless.
President Trump, remember, has gotten behind the idea of more stimulus now — and even supports a new round of stimulus checks — but the GOP-controlled Senate hasn’t fallen in line. Republicans seem to have little interest at the moment in passing another major stimulus package, which has also put the idea of new stimulus checks on ice for now.
Meanwhile, the pandemic continues. According to Johns Hopkins University, the latest data shows that there have been some 6 million coronavirus cases in the US to date, along with more than 183,000 deaths.
