President Joe Biden is slated to meet Feb. 1 with the 10 GOP senators over a scaled down version of a landmark COVID-19 federal relief bill, according to a statement Sunday, Jan. 31, from the White House.

Days before taking office, Biden proposed a $1.9 trillion federal relief bill. Over the weekend Congressional Republicans led by Maine Sen. Susan Collins responded with a much skinnier $618 billion counter-proposal.

“We want to work in good faith with you and your administration to meet the health, economic and societal challenges of the COVID crisis,” reads the letter dated Jan. 31.

Biden spoke privately with Collins, said White House Press Secretary Jan Psaki, and the meeting on Monday will allow for the president and the 10 Senators “to discuss their ideas about the actions needed to address these crises” and have “a full exchange of views.”

At the center of the debate has been the direct stimulus checks: $1,400 as proposed by Biden versus the $1,000 proposed by Republicans.

The March 2020 version of the measure, known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, included $1,200 checks, and the December extension included a round of $600.

Biden has expressed a desire to strike a bipartisan deal with Republicans, and the White House has acknowledged there would be wiggle room on what ultimately lands on the president’s desk, save for the $1,400 amount.

Income requirements would be more stringent under the Democratic plan, which like the original CARES Act allows for the $1,400 payments to go to individuals earning up to $75,000 per year, or couples making up to $150,000. Earners above those thresholds will see the direct payment gradually whittled down, depending on how much they earn.

Republicans are proposing the full $1,000 checks for individuals earning above $50,000 and couples earning about $100,000.

“[T]here’s legitimate reason for people to say, “Do you have the lines drawn the exact right way?  Should it go to anybody making over X-number of dollars or why?”  I’m open to negotiate those things,” he said during a Jan. 22 public appearance.

Still, Biden’s National Economic Council Director, Brian Deese, said during a Sunday appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the $1.9 trillion figure was “calibrated to the economic crisis that we face.”

“What we really need to focus on now is: What do we need to get this economy back on track and what are the resources necessary to do so?” he said.

Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders, a stalwart progressive lawmaker from Vermont and incoming chair of the Senate Budget Committee, maintained that “the question is not bipartisanship.”

“The question is addressing the unprecedented crisis that we face right now. If Republicans want to work with us, they have better ideas on how to address those crises, that’s great. But, to be honest with you, I have not yet heard that,” he said on a Sunday segment of ABC’s “This Week.

Sanders previously suggested that Democrats could force Biden’s version of the CARES Act through the Senate via budget reconciliation, a maneuver requiring just a simple majority.

Republicans contended that “billions of dollars remain unspent” from the $900 billion December CARES Act package, while more money from the March version “has yet to be exhausted.

“The proposal we have outlined is mindful of these past efforts, while also acknowledging the priorities that need additional support right now,” the letter reads.

Here’s some other key differences and takeaways between the GOP-backed plan and Biden’s proposal:

Federal minimum wage 

Biden’s plan calls for increasing the national minimum wage to $15 an hour, up from the $7.25 rate where it’s stayed for over a decade. The Republican counteroffer includes no such plan.

Under legislation Democrats introduced last week in both chambers of Congress, the national minimum wage would increase to $15 an hour by 2025.

Business relief 

Biden’s plan calls for $15 billion in small business grants. Businesses with less than 500 workers would be compensated through a refundable tax credit for providing paid family and medical leave.

Another $35 billion in federal financing would come in the form of $175 billion worth of low-interest loans and a venture capital program for businesses.

Republicans are proposing expansions to the existing Paycheck Protection Program – federal forgivable loans – and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program. Under the PPP program, the Trump and Biden administrations awarded over $17 billion to New Jersey businesses, and another $917 million in January 2021.

Unemployment

Biden’s proposal calls for $400 in weekly assistance through September, down from the $600 which expired over the summer. The December CARES Act slashed that to $300, which is what Republicans want.

What they have in common

Republicans are siding with Biden on $160 billion to speed up COVID-19 vaccine development and distributing; expanded testing and contacting tracing; and additional personal protective equipment.

The two plans also call for $4 billion in expanded behavioral health and substance abuse services.