A Joe Biden presidency could kick off by pushing through a stimulus bill in January costing at least $1 trillion to counter the pandemic.
The former vice president seeks to provide immediate relief to families and businesses upon taking office that would include additional aid to state and local governments, renewing the $600 enhanced unemployment payment and creating a “comeback package” for small businesses, Axios reported Monday. The package would be meant to provide aid swiftly before the Biden administration could pursue a larger legislative package.
Economic advisers to the Biden campaign, many of whom worked in the Obama administration and helped craft the $787 billion stimulus that President Barack Obama enacted shortly after taking office, have cautioned that bankruptcies and evictions are likely to worsen because of the pandemic and that quick legislative action will likely be required early next year.
House Democrats in May passed a $3 trillion stimulus bill that provided many of the same policies that Biden supports. The Senate is not expected to vote on the legislation.
In July, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, released the HEALS Act, a relief package that would cost roughly $1 trillion.
House Democrats and Senate Republicans have yet to reach an agreement on what should be included in the next stimulus package.
