As the coronavirus continues to spread, business owners and workers remain under financial pressure. With significantly reduced amounts of customers and dwindling revenue, many businesses have laid-off workers in an effort to stay financially viable. The unemployment rates in most states have reached unprecedented levels, higher than that of during the Great Recession. In response to this, President Joe Biden unveiled his plans for an economic stimulus package aimed at providing financial relief to those affected by Covid-19.

Biden’s relief bill, dubbed the American Rescue Plan, will primarily assist those who are struggling financially amidst the pandemic and fund a more robust vaccination process. The American Rescue Plan is expected to cost $1.9 trillion, augmenting Congress’s $3 trillion Coronavirus relief bill and $900 billion legislation passed in March and December, respectively. 

The package will include $1,400 stimulus checks, in addition to the $600 that was sent out earlier this month. The plan also includes $400 per week unemployment aid, $30 billion in utility and rental assistance, a 15% increase in food stamps, and $70 billion in a national vaccination program. Furthermore, Biden plans to invest $170 billion into K-12 schools and colleges to help them reopen. 

The American Rescue Plan was met with praise from the American Federation of Teachers whose union president, Randi Weingarten, said in a statement: “ We are grateful that someone is finally acting like a real president. Joe Biden is meeting the moment—a moment of deep national crisis, a worsening virus, a weakening economy, and a growing number of struggling Americans—with tangible actions for emergency relief.”

With the Democrats controlling both the Senate and the House, Biden is pushing for action to be taken on controlling the pandemic and helping people in need. However, members from both parties have expressed concerns about the bill. Republican senators Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney both suggested the need for a smaller bill, especially when Congress passed the $900 billion bill in December. The Democrats have pulled together President Joe Biden’s proposal and the legislation is expected to be considered by the House Budget Committee. 

“I know what I just described does not come cheaply,” Biden said when discussing the bill he has proposed, “But failure to [act] will cost us dearly. The consensus among leading economists is we simply cannot afford not to do what I’m proposing.”

Meanwhile, the House can begin passing parts of Biden’s plan as soon as February. Though the size of the package can be debated among the two parties, it goes without saying that action needs to be taken immediately. There will be an estimated 11.4 million workers losing unemployment benefits during March and April which means that Congress needs to pass its next relief bill soon. With the pandemic dragging on for approximately a year, many people are in need of the contents of the American Rescue plan.