The Senate is poised to consider President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, an elaborate bill recently passed by the House of Representatives through the budget reconciliation process at an estimated cost of $1.9 trillion over the coming decade.
We recently had the honor of testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee on the effects of inaction on coronavirus fiscal legislation. One of us was invited by the Republicans and the other by the Democrats. The basis of the hearing was the Heroes Act, a $3 trillion bill that passed the House in the spring on a party line vote with about $1 trillion in tax cuts and $2 trillion in new spending.
“But Alex Brill of the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute said Congress shouldn’t approve more costly economic recovery payments because they aren’t well targeted toward households directly impacted by the pandemic.”
My testimony begins with an overview of the economic impact of the pandemic and our current economic situation.
Congress faces several critical choices before departing for their August recess. Should the $600-per-week additional unemployment insurance (UI) benefit (which has resulted in five of six workers earning more in unemployment benefits than wages) be extended, modified, or allowed to expire at the end of July?
