The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill passed in the Senate on a party-line vote on Saturday. The bill now goes back to the House of Representatives, where it’s expected to be approved next week and sent to President Biden’s desk for signature before federal unemployment benefits expire March 14.
The New York Times reports the package “would inject vast amounts of federal resources into the economy, including direct payments of up to $1,400 for hundreds of millions of Americans, jobless aid of $300 a week to last through the summer, money for distributing coronavirus vaccines and relief for states, cities, schools and small businesses struggling during the pandemic.”
The final vote came after hours of debate on amendments, including an anti-transgender amendment that drew an impassioned rebuke from Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA). That amendment failed, as did the push to include the $15 federal minimum wage increase that had originally passed in the House version.
