Help Is on the Way. The American Rescue Plan Is the Law of the Land

By Hakeem Jeffries
Last week the House of Representatives passed and President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan. The $1.9 trillion legislation will put shots in arms to crush the virus, deliver survival checks to you, get children back in schools, keep people in jobs and help our small businesses stay open. The American Rescue Plan will also deliver more than $12 billion to the New York State and $6 billion to the New York City governments so they can continue to serve us. 

The American Rescue Plan will save lives and livelihoods:
Put Money in People’s Pockets: The plan provides direct assistance to households across America with checks of $1,400 per qualifying person, following the $600 down payment enacted in December. To learn more about thepayments, please visit IRS.gov. The plan will also provide direct housing assistance, nutrition assistance for 40 millionAmericans, expand access to safe and reliable childcare and affordable healthcare, extend unemployment insurance so that 18 million American workers can pay their bills and support more than 17 million low-wage workers through an improved Earned Income Tax Credit. The bill also will lift 5.5 million children out of poverty through increasing the Child Tax Credit from $2000 per child to $3000 per child ($3600 for a child under age 6).
Put Vaccines in Arms: The plan will mount a national vaccination program that includes setting up community vaccination sites. It will also combat the virus by scaling up testing and tracing, addressing shortages of personal protective equipment and other critical supplies, investing in high-quality treatments and addressing healthcare disparities. 
Put Children Safely Back in School: The plan will make a nearly $130 billion investment in school reopening and making up for lost learning.

Put People Back in Jobs: The plan will provide crucial support for the hardest-hit small businesses, especially those owned by entrepreneurs from racial and ethnic backgrounds that have experienced systemic discrimination, with EIDL grants, expanded PPP eligibility and more. To learn more about these programs, please visit SBA.gov. The plan also provides crucial resources to protect the jobs of first responders, frontline public health workers, teachers, transit workers and other essential personnel that we all depend on.