Biden Calls for Trillions More in Covid Relief – By The Fiscal Times Staff (The Fiscal Times) / January 8 2021
Plus, jobs recovery faltered in December
President-elect Joe Biden said Friday that he is working on a new multi-trillion-dollar coronavirus relief package that would include increasing the $600 direct payments provided in legislation passed last month to $2,000.
“Six hundred dollars is simply not enough when you have to choose between paying rent or putting food on the table and keeping the lights on,” Biden said.
The package, which Biden said will be announced next Thursday ahead of his inauguration on January 20, will also call for billions of dollars for vaccinations, tens of billions to help schools reopen safely and more money for state and local governments as well as enhanced unemployment benefits.
“The price tag will be high,” Biden said. Asked about a rumored price tag of some $2 trillion, Biden said: “The answer is yes, it will be in the trillions of dollars.” Biden said that failure to provide additional aid would result in “a broader economic cost.”
Biden said he would also focus on getting aid to minority-owned small business and called for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15.
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