U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she wants Americans to get another payment in addition to the $2 trillion relief package passed in the Senate on Wednesday night (March 25), according to a report by CNBC.
The House is planning to vote on the measure on Friday, and the bill is the biggest rescue initiative ever in the country. Pelosi predicts that the House will have a “strong, bipartisan” vote.
Pelosi said she wants to send even more money to Americans after the bill is passed. Right now, the bill provides up to $1,200 for individuals and $2,400 to couples. The cash payments phase out for people who make over $75,000.
“I don’t think we’ve seen the end of direct payments,” Pelosi said on Thursday (March 26). A proposal in the House would see payments of $1,500 for individuals.
About 3.3 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week — the most ever, and nearly five times the previous record high.
Pelosi said that Congress “has to be on call for what we need when we need it, and we don’t know what that might be.”
She said that in the future, she wants a bill to have free testing for the virus, as well as treatment. She also wants more money going to states for health care and food help, as well as more stringent safety standards for workers who are on the front lines of combating the virus.
Because some members of congress have contracted the disease and some are in quarantine, there’s uncertainty about when a future vote would happen. The Senate said it won’t vote again until April 20, according to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He did say that the Senate would remain “nimble” and if they had to, would come back to vote on future legislation.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that the “odds are high” that more relief legislation is on the way.
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