How Recent Biden Executive Orders Boost Food Aid and Worker Protection
Joe Biden is expected to sign two new executive orders today that will increase food aid and protect federal employees. The provisions include expanded food stamp benefits, a $ 15 minimum wage increase for federal employees, and extended unemployment benefits.
What’s in the two decrees?
Here’s what’s expected:
- According to the New York Times, the president is asking the Department of Labor to allow unemployed Americans to qualify for unemployment benefits if they give up jobs that could endanger their health. Federal waiver law will protect job seekers from forced employment that could expose them to the COVID virus.
- The executive measures will also try to expand protections and benefits for federal workers by restoring some collective bargaining rights, guaranteeing a $ 15 an hour minimum wage (plus emergency paid leave benefits), and repealing the previous Trump executive order that had appointed certain civil servants. Classification by Schedule F. Classification made it easier to fire staff because it had less protection under civil service rules.
- According to CNN , President Joe Biden will ask the Department of Agriculture to consider increasing the transmission of electronic pandemic benefits (P-EBT) by 15%, giving a family of three children more than $ 100 of additional support every two months. These funds are intended to offset the loss of school feeding programs.
- Biden will also increase SNAP food stamp benefits for 12 million Americans (about 40% of the lowest income SNAP recipients) who were not eligible for additional assistance under previous assistance packages. According to the New York Times , the order will increase their benefits for a family of four by 15-20% per month.
- The president will also ask the Treasury Department to find a better way to deliver checks to help the eight million low-income Americans who do not file tax returns and are difficult to reach. The IRS created a no-filing tool to help these people get their checks, but many of them are still out of business.