[ad_1]
Democratic Senate leaders and moderate Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin reached an agreement Friday night on additional unemployment benefits, ending a nine-hour stalemate that had blocked the $ 1.9 trillion pandemic aid package.
The compromise, announced by the West Virginia lawmaker and an aide to Democrats, appears to pave the way for the Senate to move toward a comprehensive bill.
The pandemic aid package will provide direct check payments in the form of $ 1,400 to most Americans. It provides funding for vaccines and testing for Covid 19, assistance to governments at the state and local levels, assistance to schools and the airline industry, tax benefits for low-income Americans and families with children, and health insurance subsidies.
While the pandemic has caused the loss of 10 million jobs, aid to unemployed Americans is a top priority for Democrats. But it is also turning into an issue that has led to divisions between progressives seeking to help the unemployed cope with their economic woes and Senator Manchin and other moderates seeking to reduce some of the aid package costs. Earlier, US President Joe Biden had called for the aid package to be given the green light urgently in order to make life easier for Americans.
top channel
[ad_2]
Source link
