The Democratic-controlled House is voting today to approve the final version of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief package and will send it to the White House for the president to sign. Key provisions of the sweeping bill include $1,400 payments to tens of millions of adults, child tax credits worth as much as $3,600 per eligible child and extended federal supplemental unemployment benefits of $300 a week. Senator Bernie Sanders called the bill “the most significant legislation for working people in decades,” even though the final bill adds new limits on eligibility for stimulus checks and does not raise the federal minimum wage. The legislation comes a year after the pandemic forced the United States to largely shut down, devastating the economy and leaving millions without work.
This comes as the seven-day average for new daily coronavirus cases dipped below 58,000 for the first time since the fall. The U.S. is now administering an average of 2.15 million vaccine doses each day, but health experts warn it is still too soon for states to be lifting many restrictions. Texas is ending its mask mandate and fully reopening today.