The Indian Panorama

Tag: Ron Klain

  • President Biden signs $1.9 trillion American Rescue Planinto Law

    President Biden signs $1.9 trillion American Rescue Planinto Law

    $1,400 for individuals, billions to help schools and colleges reopen, funding for vaccine distribution, and support to small businesses

    WASHINGTON(TIP): President Joe Biden on Thursday, March 11, signed into law a $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, hours before he planned to address the nation to begin an extensive outreach campaign explaining the massive spending package. The measure includes direct payments of up to $1,400 for individuals, billions to help schools and colleges reopen, and funding for vaccine distribution – along with many other measures aimed at helping America recover from the pandemic. “I believe this… historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country and giving people of this nation – working people, middle class folks, people that built the country – a fighting chance,” Biden said, before signing the bill from the Oval Office as Vice President Kamala Harris stood behind him. “I’m going to have a lot more to say about that tonight and the next couple days.”

    Shortly after, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the direct payments could start showing up in people’s bank accounts as early as this weekend.

    The White House moved up the bill signing to Thursday from Friday after Congress finalized the bill sooner than expected.

    “We want to move as fast as possible,” Ron Klain, Biden’s chief of staff, tweeted when the new time was announced.

    Biden will still hold a celebratory signing event with congressional leaders on Friday.

    The signing comes days before a federal boost to unemployment benefits was set to expire on Sunday, March 14.

    No Republican voted for the legislation, which passed the House on Wednesday, March 10, and the Senate on Saturday. One Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, voted against it.

    Republicans complain the bill is too expensive and is packed with provisions not directly related to combating the pandemic. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., criticized the bill as a “laundry list of leftwing priorities that predate the pandemic and do not meet the needs of American families.”

    Democrats say it is one of the largest anti-poverty bills in a generation, aiming to deliver on Biden’s promise to send aid to millions of Americans grappling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Biden said an “overwhelming percentage” of the American people support the package.

    The benefits include:

    • Giving most Americans earning up to $75,000 a $1,400 check.
    • Extending a $300 weekly federal boost to unemployment benefits through August.
    • Sending $350 billion to state and local governments whose revenue has declined because of COVID-19’s impact on the economy.
    • Allocating $130 billion to help fully reopen schools and colleges.
    • Allotting $30 billion to help renters and landlords weather economic losses.
    • Devoting $50 billion for small-business assistance.
    • Dedicating $160 billion for vaccine development, distribution and related needs.
    • Expanding the child tax credit up to $3,600 per child.
    • Expanding premium subsidies for people who buy health insurance on their own instead of getting it from an employer or a government program like Medicare or Medicaid.

    The road trips by members of the administration, which the White House is calling the “Help is Here tour,” will include a visit by Biden and Harris to Georgia next week.

    Biden is also expected to travel to Pennsylvania on Tuesday.

    First lady Jill Biden is heading to New Jersey on Monday, March 15, while Harris and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff travel to Nevada.

    Harris and Emhoff are going to Colorado on Tuesday, March 16, with Emhoff also visiting New Mexico on Wednesday, March 17.

    “They’re eager to get out there on the road,” Psaki said Thursday.

    (Agencies)

  • Indian American Vidur Sharma Appointed as Covid Testing Adviser

    Indian American Vidur Sharma Appointed as Covid Testing Adviser

    WASHINGTON (TIP): Joe Biden has named Indian-American health policy expert Vidur Sharma as testing advisor in his COVID-19 Response Team, as the US President-elect laid out his ambitious goal to intensify vaccinations across the country to tackle the spread of the deadly pandemic.

    The announcement of Sharma’s appointment as Policy Advisor for Testing was made by Biden on Friday along with additional members of the White House COVID-19 Response Team.

    During the Obama administration, Sharma served as a health policy advisor on the Domestic Policy Council.

    Sharma supported the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, aligned Federal Department and Agencies, and collaborated with community stakeholders to further the administration’s health policy agenda.

    He also served as Deputy Research Director with Protect Our Care, a coalition of advocacy organizations dedicated to preventing the repeal of the ACA. Since then, Sharma has advised health sector organizations on value-based care arrangements at PwC Strategy. Born in Wisconsin and raised in Minnesota, and the son of Indian immigrants, Sharma is a graduate of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Saint Louis University.

    Among other appointments announced Friday were Amy Chang, Policy Advisor; Abbe Gluck, Special Counsel; David Kessler, Chief Science Officer of COVID Response; Rosa Po, COVID Response Team Deputy Chief of Staff; Andy Slavitt, Senior Advisor to the COVID Response Coordinator; Ben Wakana, Deputy Director of Strategic Communications & Engagement; and B. Cameron Webb, Senior Policy Advisor for COVID-19 Equity.

    The Transition said that the appointees will play integral roles in implementing and executing Biden’s strategy to effectively and equitably vaccinate as many people as possible, while also increasing testing and taking other important steps that will be key to changing the course of the pandemic.

    “We are in a race against time, and we need a comprehensive strategy to quickly contain this virus. The individuals announced today will bolster the White House’s COVID-19 Response Team and play important roles in carrying out our rescue plan and vaccination program. At a time when American families are facing numerous challenges, I know these public servants will do all that is needed to build our nation back better,” said Biden.

    Biden on Friday announced an ambitious goal of inoculating 100 million Americans with COVID-19 vaccines in the first 100 days of his administration. During his election campaign, Biden, who will take over as the 46th President of the US, made tackling COVID-19 and the economic hardships it had put on Americans a core pitch to voters.

    The US is the worst-affected country in the world with more than 23,523,000 COVID-19 infections and 391,955 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus tracker.

    Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said, “Containing the coronavirus pandemic is one of the defining challenges of our time. This outstanding team will help us defeat this challenge by helping get this virus under control, responsibly reopen our economy, and safely reopen our schools. I look forward to working closely with these dedicated public servants not only to address this urgent crisis, but also to build better preparedness for future pandemics and other public health threats.” “There is hard work ahead to contain COVID-19. These appointees are immensely qualified to join our White House efforts to contain the coronavirus and build our nation back better. The president and vice president-elect have put together a bold rescue package and national vaccination plan and these individuals will work tirelessly by marshalling every part of our government, working directly with communities, and trusting science to make it a reality,” said incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain.