COVID-19: US watchdog urges improvements to relief bill

WASHINGTON: A non-partisan US watchdog group said that the House of Representatives-approved $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill includes measures not directly related to the pandemic, urging the Senate to pass a better targeted one.

Commenting on the giant relief bill that cleared the House on February 27, Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said in a statement that while some of the funds would go to key priorities, it is clear that the targeting of this bill could be improved, reports Xinhua news agency.

"It directs significant resources to those who have not been harmed by the pandemic or recession. Those policies may be popular or sensible, but they do not belong in this emergency bill," MacGuineas said.

"Specifically, state and local government budgets aren't in anywhere near as dire a situation as initially projected." The $1.9 trillion package includes $350 billion dollars to help pandemic-hit state and local governments balance their budgets. MacGuineas argued that the third round of rebate checks will go to many households that "don't need them", right as US incomes continue to "show strong growth". According to data released last week by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, personal income soared 10 per cent in January, and personal consumption expenditures increased 2.4 per cent.

Among the unrelated provisions are a pension bailout, expansions of the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the child care tax credit; an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour; and Affordable Care Act expansions, according to the group. (IANS)

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