Biden has already planned dozens of orders for his first few weeks of office, many of which relate to the on-going pandemic, including a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan. This plan includes $20 billion for a national vaccination program, $1,400 stimulus checks and raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Biden has also assured that within 100 days, he will provide 100 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, and introduce a mask mandate in federal buildings, planes, and buses. He has also pledged to reopen schools in this 100-day window by allotting $130 billion to help them reopen safely. Biden’s website clearly lays out a seven step plan to beat COVID-19 and “get the country back on track.” These steps include making testing and PPE (personal protective equipment) more accessible, providing clear plans for schools and businesses to safely reopen, distributing vaccines, introducing a mask mandate, and making a plan to protect Americans from future health crises.
Biden also plans to address the nature of our economy amidst the pandemic. Along with the COVID relief plan, Biden plans to introduce a new tax plan, which will raise corporate income taxes by 7%. This plan will not affect anyone making under $400,000 a year, but for those who do, a 12.4% Social Security tax will be enrolled. Biden also plans to create more jobs through the Public Health Jobs Corps, which will enlist more people to work to actively fight the pandemic. Throughout his presidency, Biden plans to “create millions of good-paying jobs and to give America’s working families the tools, choices, and freedom they need to build back better.” To do this, he plans to mobilize American manufacturing and innovation, build modern infrastructure and more resources for clean energy, and build a 21st century caregiving and education workforce which will help working parents.
As well as introducing several of his own policies, Biden plans to reverse many policies introduced during the Trump administration. In 2015, Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord. Biden plans to rejoin the Accord as soon as possible. Biden also plans to host a climate summit in the first 100 days of his administration to persuade other nations to make greater commitments to addressing climate change. Along with climate change, Biden plans to reverse and revise many of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, including the travel ban on several Muslim majority countries. He also plans to create a federal task force to reunite separated families at the Mexican-American border, and create pathways for almost 11 million undocumented immigrants to become citizens.
Biden plans to introduce legislation and for greater racial and LGBTQ+ equality. Within a 100 day window, Biden plans to “make enactment of the Equality Act during his first 100 days as President a top legislative priority.” He plans to reverse the transgender military ban, reverse policies that stigmatize veterans living with AIDS, protect and support LGBTQ+ veterans, and eliminate homelessness and suicide within the LGBTQ+ community. He has also vowed to make criminal justice reform and racial justice reforms a top priority as well. He plans to close racial wealth and income gaps by increasing funding for small businesses, expand African-American homeownership, and make social security benefits more equitable, just to name a few.
Just on his first day in office, Biden signed dozens of orders. According to the AP, “The new president signed the orders just hours after taking the oath of office at the Capitol, pivoting quickly from his pared-down inauguration ceremony to enacting his agenda. With the stroke of a pen, Biden ordered a halt to the construction of Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall, ended the ban on travel from some Muslim-majority countries, declared his intent to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organization and revoked the approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline…” Biden plans to continue pushing legislation forward in the coming weeks.
2020 was an unprecedented year, and the same can be said for the 2020 election. However, the Biden administration and their plans make it clear that there is hope on the horizon. As incoming White House Chief of Staff puts it, “These actions will change the course of COVID-19, combat climate change, promote racial equity and support other underserved communities, and rebuild our economy in ways that strengthen the backbone of this country: the working men and women who built our nation...While the policy objectives in these executive actions are bold, I want to be clear: the legal theory behind them is well-founded and represents a restoration of an appropriate, constitutional role for the President."
https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-plans-reverse-multitude-of-trump-policies-first-10-days-2021-1
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