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Democrats rejected all but three Republican amendments to the $1.9 trillion relief bill, which cleared the Senate in a partisan vote on March 6.
One Republican amendment to be adopted as part of the marathon vote-a-rama session that lasted more than 24 hours was amendment #1092 on reducing the unemployment insurance plus-up from $400 to $300, introduced by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio).
Portmanâs amendment, which provided the extra jobless benefit until July 18, was short-lived, however. About an hour later, Democrats passed their own related amendment, which overrode Portmanâs by extending the benefits through Sept. 6.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) voted with all 49 Republican senators present to approve Portmanâs amendment, although he later voted with his Democratic colleagues on the superseding amendment that additionally made the first $10,200 in unemployment benefits tax-free for some households.
Another Republican measure to pass was amendment #1342, introduced by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), which provides an effective date for the modification of revenue requirements for educational institutionsâa technical proposal that passed by voice vote.
The third GOP proposal to pass was amendment #1233, introduced by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), which activates $800 million of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund to help homeless youth and children amid the pandemic.
All other Republican amendments failed.
One of those to be voted down was Sen. Tim Scottâs (R-S.C.) proposal that revived his effort for transparency and investigations into COVID-19 nursing home deaths.
Another to fail was a proposal by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), which sought to ensure that schools were open at least half the time for half the students in order to be eligible for funding.
Also voted down was an amendment from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), which sought to modify a state-and-local funding formula that he said was too generous to blue states.
The bill contains some $350 billion in state and local funding, a longtime Republican bugbear. The Senate version of the bill features a compromise stipulation compared to the House version, that the money can only cover costs incurred by the end of 2024. It also prohibits states from using the money to offset tax cuts and stipulates that it cannot be used to shore up pension funds.
Other failed Republican amendments include a revival of the canceled Keystone XL pipeline to help COVID-impacted communities, and emergency assistance to nonpublic schools.
In a March 5 press conference, Graham, Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) and several other Senate Republicans denounced what they said was a partisan process around passing the relief bill, calling President Joe Bidenâs previous calls for unity âhollow,â and denouncing the American Rescue Plan as âbloated, wasteful, and partisan.â
âTheyâve chosen a partisan path. And the reason weâre not doing it together now is they donât want to do it together. Theyâve got a wish list thatâs unrelated to COVID that none of us are going to buy into,â Graham said.
âThey see this as an opportunity to appropriate money for their liberal wish list using COVID as the reason.â
The Senate ultimately approved the $1.9 trillion stimulus package with all 50 Democrats voting for, and all present Republicans voting against. Alaskaâs Dan Sullivan had to leave to go home for the funeral of his father-in-law.
The bill, also known as the American Rescue Plan or H.R. 1319, was approved by the House on Feb. 27 by a vote of 219â212, with all Republicans and two Democrats voting against it.
The bill will be returned to the House for reconciliation, which is expected to happen early this week.