{"id":20961,"date":"2021-01-29T17:30:49","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T17:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basicincometoday.com\/?p=9792"},"modified":"2021-01-29T17:30:49","modified_gmt":"2021-01-29T17:30:49","slug":"more-than-50-house-progressives-sign-letter-pushing-president-biden-to-prioritize-recurring-direct-checks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/29\/more-than-50-house-progressives-sign-letter-pushing-president-biden-to-prioritize-recurring-direct-checks\/","title":{"rendered":"More than 50 House progressives sign letter pushing President Biden to prioritize recurring direct checks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The left is eager to go big on the next coronavirus relief proposal.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Sarah Ferris<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 50 House progressives are pushing President Joe Biden to prioritize recurring direct checks instead of one-time payments in the next rescue package, upping the demands on Democratic leaders in their race to draft a bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group of House Democrats, led by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), sent a letter to the Biden administration last Thursday calling for regularly delivered checks through the end of the pandemic, rather than a single $1,400 payment that is likely to fall short of expenses like rent or mortgage payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0letter obtained by POLITICO<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 which was also signed by Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) \u2014 does not call for a specific dollar amount. But Omar and other progressives have been vocal in their support for monthly $2,000 checks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne more check is not enough,\u201d progressives wrote in their letter to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

White House and congressional officials are moving quickly to draft the next stimulus package, with Democrats working on legislation that would meet the broad outlines of Biden\u2019s $1.9 trillion proposal and could pass by mid-March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden\u2019s proposal includes long-time priorities of the left, like a $15 minimum wage and a paid leave program \u2014 though it remains unclear if either can make it into the package given initial GOP resistance and certain procedural constraints if Democrats deploy budget reconciliation to evade a Senate filibuster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now progressives say Biden must also go further on stimulus checks, which remain overwhelmingly popular with the public despite resistance from the GOP\u2019s deficit hawks as well as some Democrats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the lawmakers do not threaten to withhold their votes, the progressives\u2019 push to prioritize recurring payments could drum up pressure on top Democrats in a narrowly divided House and Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRecurring direct payments until the economy recovers will help ensure that people can meet their basic needs, provide racially equitable solutions, and shorten the length of the recession,\u201d the letter reads.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The group also told Biden and Harris that the checks should go to \u201call immigrant workers, refugees, and their families,\u201d which would include people who file federal taxes but are not legally authorized to work in the U.S.\u2014 a group that is not currently eligible for payments.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter also calls for more outreach by state and local officials \u201cto ensure families are aware of payments\u201d and to offer more help to people who may not have access to bank accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter is endorsed by more than two dozen progressive groups, including Demand Progress, Indivisible and the Universal Income Project.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

_____<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To see original article please visit: https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2021\/01\/28\/biden-coronavirus-stimulus-checks-463268<\/a><\/p>\n

The post More than 50 House progressives sign letter pushing President Biden to prioritize recurring direct checks<\/a> appeared first on Basic Income Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Basic Income Today<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The left is eager to go big on the next coronavirus relief proposal. By\u00a0Sarah Ferris More than 50 House progressives are pushing President Joe Biden to prioritize recurring direct checks instead of one-time payments in the next rescue package, upping the demands on Democratic leaders in their race to draft a bill. The group of [\u2026]<\/p>\n

The post More than 50 House progressives sign letter pushing President Biden to prioritize recurring direct checks<\/a> appeared first on Basic Income Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1529,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4193,5565,5257,5555,5556,5554,5561,5558,5559],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20961"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1529"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20961"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20962,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20961\/revisions\/20962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}