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House to vote on $1.9T COVID-19 relief bill today

By Madison Parry

A $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid bill from Biden remains under debate in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday. Included in the House bill is a federal minimum wage increase, struck down and ruled unallowed under written Senate rules.

The U.S. House of Representatives continues the debate on Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill on Friday.

If approved, the measure would send a new round of emergency financial aid to households, small businesses and state and local governments.

Democrats control the House by a 221-211 margin, the Democrat-controlled House pushing to get the bill passed to a 50-50 Senate, where Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris holds the tie-breaking vote.

Included in the House bill is a federal minimum wage increase, which would be the first since 2009 and would gradually bump it up to $15 an hour in 2025 from the current $7.25 rate.

However, the wage hike was thrown out Thursday after the Senate parliamentarian ruled that it could not be allowed under the Senate’s “reconciliation” rules that govern the COVID-19 bill.

The special rules allow the legislation to advance in the Senate with a simple majority of the 100 senators, instead of the 60 needed for most legislation.