- If former Vice President Joe Biden is ultimately declared the winner of the 2020 presidential race, there will be pressure on him almost immediately to pass a new stimulus bill through Congress.
- Congress has been gridlocked for months over the passage of a new coronavirus stimulus bill, which has gone nowhere.
- Even Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he thinks his body needs to pass such a bill before the end of 2020.
So many of the important things we all want to see come to pass are in a weird state of suspended animation right now. Like, the fact that we’re all waiting for a coronavirus vaccine to materialize. For Congress to pass new relief to help people affected by the pandemic. To see how much worse the COVID-19 crisis will get this winter. And, of course, when the results of Election Day 2020 will be finalized, after a few days of counting a record number of ballots cast in the contest between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.
If Biden is ultimately declared the winner, as it looks increasingly likely that he might be, here’s one thing we won’t have to wait much longer for: A new stimulus bill. Right out of the gate, he’s not only signaled that passing a major coronavirus stimulus accord will be one of his first priorities — it will also almost certainly include a new round of stimulus checks. And what’s more, we don’t have to speculate about this. Biden and his team have already gone ahead and sketched out what his stimulus plan would look like.
Check it out here if you want to see it for yourself. “More must be done,” Biden’s official site explains about his stimulus priorities. “Congress approved direct cash relief — $1,200 per person to help working families through this crisis. But it’s a one-off. And Congress didn’t include direct student loan forgiveness, or Social Security boosts for seniors, or cost-free treatment for COVID-19, full paid sick leave for our workers, or sufficient fiscal relief to states.”
Here are some of the priorities Biden would include in his eventual stimulus legislation. Assuming Biden wins, of course, this would be the long-awaited successor to the original $2.2 trillion CARES Act legislation that Congress passed back at the end of March, at the start of the pandemic. For months, Congress has been gridlocked and caught up in a stalemate over what a new bill should consist of. Biden, for his part, would push:
- For an additional round of stimulus checks to families (with the important caveat of “if conditions require,” which, let’s be honest, they will)
- To forgive at least $10,000 per person of federal student loans
- To increase monthly Social Security checks by $200/month
- For the approval of emergency paid sick leave for everyone who needs it, including workers in all industries and sectors, as well as in the gig economy, plus contractors and self-employed workers.
- To ensure that no one has to pay out of pocket for COVID-19 testing, treatment, or an eventual vaccine
- And to provide necessary fiscal relief to states so workers and communities get the help they need, especially those on the front lines like New York.
