WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — A $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill is on its way to President Joe Biden’s desk. In a nearly exact party-line vote, the House passed President Biden’s American Rescue Plan to deliver direct checks, continue unemployment benefits and send $4.5 billion to reopen schools.
“I just want to say, thank God for Georgia,” Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., said Wednesday.
The COVID relief package made it back to the House with the help of votes from Sen. Warnock and his fellow Georgia Democrat, Sen. Jon Ossoff.
Now the bill heads to the president’s desk.
“As soon as this legislation is signed by the president, the process of getting those stimulus checks out the door will begin,” Sen. Ossoff said.
Sen Ossoff says Georgians will receive thousands of dollars in direct economic relief and that the package ensures every Georgian gets the COVID-19 vaccine free of charge.
“We should have enough supply for everybody by mid-summer, if not late spring, and I’ll keep you posted on that,” Ossoff added.
This is President Biden’s first big legislative victory. And although polls show bipartisan support across the country for the relief bill – in Washington, the package was anything but.
“How are they gonna pay for this?” Sen. Rick Scott said Wednesday.
The Florida Republican believes much of the $1.9 trillion went to things unrelated to the pandemic and said the price tag pushes the country further into debt.
“I want to do good stuff to help families, but they’re bankrupting our country,” said Scott.
Congress now begins work on fixing failing infrastructure. Whether it will be a bipartisan effort remains to be seen.