The House Ways and Means Committee advanced legislation that would infuse households with hundreds of billions of dollars of cash through direct payments and tax credits, a key plank of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 relief package.

The panel on Thursday approved measures providing US$593.5 billion in benefits, most of which is made up of US$1,400 stimulus payments, along with advance tax credits for children that will be sent to households on a monthly basis. The measures passed on a 24-18 party-line vote.

A dozen House committees are working on different elements of Biden’s US$1.9 trillion rescue proposal, and Thursday’s component is one of several under the jurisdiction of the Ways and Means panel. The committees plan to complete their work on Friday, with the full House voting on the overall package the week of Feb. 22.

“The US$600 rebates that Congress delivered in December didn’t do enough,” Representative Suzan DelBene, a Washington Democrat, said during the Ways and Means Committee’s debate on Thursday, referring to stimulus checks approved in the last round of pandemic assistance. “This is critical relief to help families weather this crisis.”

The legislation also expands tax credits for low-income workers and families paying for care for children or adults. Tax benefits for health care and paid sick leave get expanded, as well as an extension of incentives to help employers keep workers on the job.

Democrats say the payments are critical to help boost household income amid the elevated unemployment rate and additional costs burdening American families. Republicans have criticized the proposal, saying it includes many items Democrats have championed prior to the pandemic and that many higher-income households that aren’t struggling would benefit.

The IRS is planning to issue the stimulus payments as quickly as possible if the legislation is signed into law.

Households would get the child tax credit in the form of a US$300 a month payment for children five and under or US$250 a month for those six and older starting in July. That amounts to a US$3,600 benefit for younger children or US$3,000 for older ones -- an increase from the current US$2,000 maximum credit. The tax break is currently paid out as a tax refund, rather than in monthly payments.

About two-thirds of the benefits would go to households making up to US$91,000 a year, according to estimates from the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. About 11 per cent would go to the top 20 per cent of taxpayers -- or those making about US$164,000 or more, the research found.

Democrats are hoping to make the monthly tax-credit payments a permanent annual feature in follow-up legislation.