© Chip Somodevilla/GettyWASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 01: Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) holds a news conference to announce legislation that would tax the net worth of America's wealthiest individuals at the U.S. Capitol on March 01, 2021 in Washington, DC. Citing growing inequalities during the coronavirus pandemic, Jayapal, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) introduced the bill that would apply a two-percent tax on people worth more than $50 million and an additional one-percent surcharge for net worth above $1 billion. (Photo by /Getty Images)
Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, praised the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, describing Senate modifications as "relatively minor concessions"-despite her and other progressive lawmakers previously condemning the changes.
Progressive Democrats pushed for the inclusion of an increase of the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, higher federal unemployment payments and more generous stimulus checks eligibility in President Joe Biden's COVID-19 rescue package. Although these progressive priorities were all included and passed in the original House version of the bill, the Senate stripped the federal minimum wage increase, declined to raise unemployment payments, and limited the number of Americans who were eligible for another round of stimulus checks. Many progressives lawmakers and voters have strongly criticized these adjustments.
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"The American Rescue Plan is a truly progressive and bold package that delivers on its promise to put money directly in people's pockets and decisively crush the coronavirus's spread, which is responsible for our economic crisis. Compared to the response to the Great Recession, this package meets the scale of this unprecedented crisis, delivering the equivalent of seven percent of GDP for the coming year - exactly what economists say is needed to jumpstart our economy and the labor market," Jayapal said in a Saturday statement.
The Washington Democrat's approval signals that her 93-member strong House caucus plans to rubberstamp the final package when it comes for a final vote in the House on Tuesday. Some activists and pundits have urged progressive lawmakers to hold up the legislation and push back against the modifications made by moderate Democrats in the Senate.
However, Jayapal said that the tweaks were "relatively minor concessions."
"Despite the fact that we believe any weakening of the House provisions were bad policy and bad politics, the reality is that the final amendments were relatively minor concessions. The American Rescue Plan has retained its core bold, progressive elements originally proposed by President Joe Biden and passed in the House relief package," the congresswoman said.
Jayapal took the biggest issue with the removal of the federal minimum wage increase in the Senate package. "We remain extremely disappointed that the minimum wage bill was not included. The minimum wage remains essential policy and we must deliver on this issue. We call on the President to lay out his plan in the coming days for providing a desperately needed raise for 32 million Americans," she said.
The Senate approved its version of the American Rescue Plan with a party-line vote on Saturday. All 50 members of the legislative chamber's Democratic Caucus voted in favor while 49 Republicans voted in opposition. Although Vice President Kamala Harris had originally been expected to break a 50-50 tie vote, Republican Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska did not cast a vote because he had left Washington, D.C. on Friday to attend to a family emergency.
The bill now returns to the House where it is expected to be approved in another party-line vote on Tuesday.
While Jayapal's statement signals that her caucus plans to approve the Senate's version of the legislation, some pundits and activists have urged progressives to continue to demand inclusion of their key priorities.
"The very cool thing is that if about 6 House Dems simply say they won't vote for the COVID relief bill if it doesn't include a minimum wage increase, Dems would have to add a minimum wage increase into the final bill," David Sirota, a former senior advisor and speechwriter for Senator Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign, tweeted on Saturday.
Sanders, a prominent progressive, voted in favor of the Senate bill Saturday after attempting to add an amendment to include the $15 minimum wage.
"Working people want to see the Squad stand up to the establishment. Progressive leaders and leaders of major labor unions need to harness that desire and publicly urge that the Squad use their numerical balance & refuse to vote on the MUST PASS stimulus bill unless $15 is in it," Kshama Sawant, a prominent Seattle city councilmember, tweeted. (The "Squad" is a nickname for a group of prominent progressive lawmakers in the House).
Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who serves as the deputy whip in the Progressive Caucus, was joined by 22 fellow progressive lawmakers in formally urging Biden last week to push harder for the minimum wage increase in the Senate package. The president campaigned on raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour and has vowed to continue to push for the increase through future legislation.
"This ruling is a bridge too far," Khanna said in a statement last Monday. "[Progressives have] been asked, politely but firmly, to compromise on nearly all of our principles and goals. Not this time."
The wage hike was stripped from the Senate package after the chamber's parliamentarian ruled that it did not meet the complicated requirements to be passed through the budget reconciliation process. Democrats had turned to budget reconciliation after it became apparent that they would not garner Republican support for the package. Typically, legislation requires at least 60 votes to pass the Senate due to the legislative filibuster rule, but the reconciliation process only requires a narrow majority.
In addition to the removal of the minimum wage increase, the Senate limited the number of Americans who can receive stimulus checks. Instead of the cut off being an annual income of $100,000 for an individual, Senate Democrats reduced the threshold to $80,000. Furthermore, the Senate version of the legislation keeps extra weekly federal unemployment payments at $300 instead of raising them to $400 as passed by the House.
"Conservative Dems have fought so the Biden admin sends fewer & less generous relief checks than the Trump admin did. It's a move that makes little-to-no political or economic sense, and targets an element of relief that is most tangibly felt by everyday people. An own-goal," Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat and prominent progressive, tweeted last week.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
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