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Kildee Supports Additional COVID-19 Economic Relief Package

February 27, 2021

American Rescue Plan Provides Additional Direct Payments, Accelerates Vaccine Distribution, Reopens Schools Safely and Extends Small Business Relief

WASHINGTON—Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05), Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus, today voted for additional economic relief for Michigan workers, families and small businesses to get through the coronavirus pandemic.

"Families, seniors, and small businesses need additional economic relief now. The overwhelming majority of the American people, including Republicans, Independents and Democrats, want Congress to pass another COVID-19 relief package to help people get through the pandemic. With the American Rescue Plan, we finish the job of $2,000 direct payments, speed up vaccine distribution, get our kids back in the classroom safely and extend support for small businesses. Providing additional economic relief should not be a partisan issue," Congressman Kildee said.

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 temporary federal unemployment benefits through August 29, 2021.
  • Increases the federal supplemental weekly benefit from $300 to $400 per week.

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.