Vox Sentences - Next on Democrats' agenda

Congress will consider a number of important bills this week; people in Myanmar are continuing to protest, despite fatalities.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Gabby Birenbaum.

• Congress is set to take up a number of potentially monumental bills this week. The Senate will consider the Covid-19 relief bill, which they want President Biden to sign before benefits expire in mid-March. The House will consider HR 1, an enormous election reform bill that Republicans are already mobilizing against, and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. [The Hill / Jordain Carney and Juliegrace Brufke]
• The Senate wants to pass its version of the Covid relief bill this week. It will not include a $15 minimum wage provision, like the House’s version, after the Senate parliamentarian ruled it insufficiently budgetary. [Lauren Fox / CNN]
• March 14 is hanging over the relief bill as a deadline — that’s the day that expanded unemployment benefits expire. The bill is expected to pass with the support of all 50 Democrats and likely no Republican votes. [NPR / Deirdre Walsh]
• The bill includes funding for $1,400 individual stimulus checks, as well as $350 billion for state and local aid. [Vox / Andrew Prokop]
• The House is also expected to vote this week on a massive voting rights bill, which would create election reforms including increased accountability for dark money groups, illegalizing laws that make it difficult to vote, and taking on gerrymandering. [AP / Brian Slodysko]
• The bill is incredibly timely considering impending redistricting in 2022 and an enormous wave of Republican proposals across statehouses seeking to restrict voting rights. It is expected to pass with the support of all Democrats and no Republicans — setting up a filibuster fight in the Senate over its passage. [Huffington Post / Paul Blumenthal]
• House Democrats will also consider the reintroduced George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020. It would codify a number of police reforms for federal law enforcement, including a ban on no-knock warrants and chokeholds and an end to qualified immunity. [CNN / Paul LeBlanc]
• The bill is expected to come up for a vote this week, but moderate House Democrats, still frustrated by the “defund the police” attacks ads Republicans used in the 2020 midterms, are trying to weaken the qualified immunity language. The bill’s lead author, Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), said she will not make changes until after the bill passes the House. [Politico / Heather Caygle and Sarah Ferris]