In the News

The House passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan early Saturday morning with $1,400 direct payments to Americans and with two members of the Massachusetts delegation playing key roles in its passage.

U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, was responsible for $941 billion — or about half the $1.9 trillion bill. As Rules Committee chair, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, played a key role shepherding the bill through the process.

In a telephone interviews after the vote, Neal and McGovern told The Republican the Senate will take up COVID-19 response package next week and hopefully get it on President Joe Biden’s desk soon thereafter.

The House vote was largely along party lines.

“We thought we’d lose one or two (votes of Democrats),” Neal said. “And that’s all we lost, two.”

The two Democrats voting no were Jared Golden of Maine and Kurt Schrader of Oregon, according to the Associated Press.

Neal said he expects people to have those stimulus checks next month so that many can meet day-to-day household expenses and stimulate more demand in the larger economy.

Many economists, Neal said, expect a robust recovery in the spring and summer months.

“The time for action is now. Economists from the left, right and center agree that failing to do enough is much riskier than doing too much. There are no shortcuts to defeating this virus, and this package recognizes the challenges that lie ahead,” Neal said. “But all of this work will only matter if the Senate can move quickly to bring this legislation to President Biden’s desk. This is our moment, and together, we will recover from this virus and set the American people on a new path.”

The danger, Neal said, is in doing too little. Spending too little money now to get vaccines into arms, reopen schools and help people pay bills would only prolong the economic trouble.

McGovern said earlier bills were too small.

“One of the reasons we are at this point is that President Trump and (Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell) kept lowballing us,” McGovern said.

As the nation enters the 12th month of the COVID-19 pandemic, Neal said there is good news in terms of vaccinations and health outcomes. But he emphasized that 10 million jobs are gone from the American economy and women, disproportionately, have been driven out of the workforce. The national unemployment rate is probably closer to 10% than the 6% widely advertised when those who have given up looking for work are factored in.

“It certainly concentrated its wrath on lower-income people in terms of their earning ability,” Neals said. “We are hardly on the other side of this issue.”

McGovern added, “It was a good night for the American people. Now it’s on the Senate for a vote next week and hopefully we’ll get this on the president’s desk.”

The House bill includes $350 billion in support for state and local governments.

Neal said that could mean $8.5 billion for Massachusetts.

In Neal’s district, that would mean $98 million for Springfield and $9 million for Westfield as examples. For McGovern’s district, Worcester would get $115.1 million, Northampton $17 million and Greenfield $1.7 million.

Neal said the money is divided up according to federal Community Development Block Grant formulas that have been in place for decades.

And McGovern said it’s much needed.

“Our cities and towns, they have to reopen our schools safely. They have incurred all these expenses. So they are struggling. We need to get direct aid to our cities and towns.”

This despite persistent Republican criticism that the aid to local governments is pork.

“To me it’s a key part of the bill,” McGovern said. “Everybody is saying we need to reopen schools. Well, there is a cost.”

Neal said there are safeguards and the money is targeted to COVID-fighting efforts.

“The pandemic isn’t about malfeasance, it’s not about mismanagement, it’s not about corruption,” Neal said.

McGovern said the fight for a national $15 minimum wage will continue, despite an expected ruling from the Senate parliamentarian that the provision cannot be included in the final bill in that chamber.

“Having said that, it was in the House package. We are not giving up,” McGovern said. “People who work full time are not going to live in poverty. We have not yet given up the fight.”

Neal said there are a million people in this country working for $7.25 an hour.

“That means you work one whole day just to fill up the gas tank,” he said.

“I think that there is broad support for raising the minimum wage. I think the question is how it can be done.”

Neal pointed to other Ways and Means provisions of the bill:

• Extend temporary federal unemployment and benefits through Aug. 29. The money increases the weekly benefit from $300 to $400.
• Enhance the Earned Income Tax Credit for workers without children by nearly tripling the maximum credit and extending eligibility. It would be the largest expansion to the credit since 2009.
• Expand the Child Tax Credit to $3,000 per child ($3,600 for children under 6), and make it fully refundable and advanceable, meaning it could be a monthly payment.
• Increase the tax credit for child care.
• Reduce health care premiums for low- and middle-income families by increasing the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credits for 2021 and 2022.
• Stabilize the pensions for more than 1 million Americans, often frontline workers, who participate in multiemployer plans that are rapidly approaching insolvency.

Economists estimate that the Child Tax Credit could cut childhood poverty in this country in half, Neal said.

“It’s the most substantial improvement in decades,” Neal said.

And the child-care tax credit will help parents, women in particular, reenter the work force.

“This is a package I’m very proud of,” Neal said.