The House is moving forward with a COVID-19 relief package without lowering the income threshold of eligibility for the $1,400 direct checks, which had been a large point of disagreement between moderate Democrats and progressives.
Under the new plan unveiled by Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal (D-MA) on Monday night, individuals who make up to $75,000 a year would be eligible for the full payments, keeping threshold of the two previous payments under the Trump administration.
Additionally, couples filing together who make up to $150,000 would still be eligible for payments before the phaseout stage.
The move marks a victory for progressives as moderate Democrats had proposed lowering the cap to $50,000 for individual filers and $100,000 for couples before the amounts per payment begin to phase out.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Senate Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-VT) blasted the proposals to lower the thresholds on Saturday.
“It would be outrageous if we ran on giving more relief and ended up doing the opposite,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
“In other words, working class people who got checks from Trump would not get them from Biden. Brilliant!” Sanders tweeted.
Excellent! I was worried about this one, so glad they’ve managed to stand firm and keep it in there.
Every time the word “progressive” is used they slap a picture of AOC over the headline. It was Pramila Jayapal that did the most heavy lifting to make this happen, yet I guess it doesn’t generate the number of clicks.
I’m glad they did this. People need it. For those that don’t, donate it.
… To the @castor_troy beer fund.
The absolute most efficient use of donations, as 100% of proceeds actually go to the intended cause, unlike most “charities”, where the bosses use revenue as a personal slush fund and to give themselves lavish paychecks.
I will refrain from celebrating until we see the bill language in the Senate. Hopefully, Sander’s argument will get through to the moderate Dems there too.