Kildee: More Economic Relief On the Way for Michigan Families, Seniors and Small Businesses

WASHINGTON—Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05), Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus, today voted to send additional COVID-19 economic relief to President Biden's desk.

The American Rescue Plan,originally passedby the U.S. House of Representatives on February 27^th, also recently passed the U.S. Senate. Today's action in the House sends the bill to the president, who is expected to sign the legislation into law.

"Michigan families, seniors, and small businesses need additional economic relief as we continue to live through this pandemic. The vast majority of Americans, including Republicans, Democrats and Independents, want Congress to act on additional aid. The American Rescue Plan finishes the job of $2,000 direct payments, accelerates vaccine distribution, gets our kids back in the classroom safely and supports additional small business relief," said Congressman Kildee.

The American Rescue Plan will:

Deliver immediate relief to Americans

• Gives working families an additional direct payment of $1,400 per person—adding to $600 payments sent in December to bring total relief to $2,000 per person.

Increase vaccine distribution

• Launches a national vaccination program that includes setting up community vaccination sites across the country. It will also take measures to combat the virus, including scaling up testing and tracing, addressing shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other critical supplies, investing in high-quality treatments and addressing health care disparities.

Get our kids back in the classroom by re-opening schools safely

• Invests in necessary PPE for teachers, administrators and students to safely reopen schools.

Provide critical support for unemployed workers

• Extends the $300 temporary federal unemployment benefits through September 6, 2021.

Expand tax credits targeted at workers and families

• Enhances the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for workers without children by nearly tripling the maximum credit and extending eligibility.
  • This would be the largest expansion to EITC since 2009.
• Expands the Child Tax Credit to $3,000 per child ($3,600 for children under 6) and makes it fully refundable and immediately available.

Health coverage and improved health care affordability

• Reduces health care premiums for low- and middle-income families by increasing the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) premium tax credits for 2021 and 2022.
• Expands COBRA by continuing to subsidize COBRA coverage through the end of the fiscal year.
• Creates subsidies for unemployed workers who are ineligible for COBRA.

Protecting the elderly and defeating the virus in nursing homes

• Includes Congressman Kildee's legislation to provide an additional $200 million for quality and infection control support for skilled nursing facilities. This will give facilities more resources to stop and prevent COVID-19 outbreaks.

Strengthen retirement security

• Includes the Butch Lewis Act to stabilize the pensions for more than one million Americans, often frontline workers, who participate in multiemployer plans that are rapidly approaching insolvency.

Support communities struggling with the economic fallout of the pandemic

• Provide crucial support for the hardest-hit small businesses, especially minority-owned businesses, with expanded Paycheck Protection Program eligibility and more. The plan also provides crucial resources to protect the jobs of first responders, frontline public health workers, teachers, transit workers and other essential workers that all Americans depend on.