Rep. Kirkpatrick Votes for American Rescue Plan, Sending Transformational COVID Relief Package to President Biden's Desk

Press Release

Today, Rep. Kirkpatrick voted to pass the final version of the American Rescue Plan, the COVID-19 relief package which would deliver urgently important funding to hard-hit Arizona workers and families, fund a national vaccine program, and get our economy back on track. After passing the Senate along party lines last week, the final version of this landmark legislation is finally on its way to the President's desk for a signature.

As a member of the influential Appropriations Committee, Rep. Kirkpatrick specifically and strategically advocated for more state and local aid in the bill. State and local governments' revenues have been decimated by the pandemic, especially in Arizona, which is why the added funding is especially crucial.

The $1.9 trillion dollar package will send roughly $7.6 billion in total to the State of Arizona, which includes:

· Nearly $5 billion to the State;

· $203 million to Pima County;

· $24 million to Cochise County;

· $140 million dollars to the City of Tucson;

· $7 million to Sierra Vista, AZ;

· $4 million to Douglas, AZ;

· $1.25 million Bisbee, AZ;

· $1.16 million to Benson, AZ;

· and $7.50 million to the Town of Sahuarita.

The bill also includes major funding for Arizona's education system so that schools have the resources to both reopen safely for in-person learning and address significant impact on students' well-being:

· Approximately $972 million for child care;

· $15,758,000 for Head Start;

· $2,663,176,000 for K-12 education;

· and $683,382,000 for higher education.

"Arizona families' lives and livelihoods have been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent economic crisis," said Rep. Kirkpatrick. "With tens of millions of Americans infected, more than half a million lives lost, millions more unemployed and food and housing insecure, the time for action is now. Our highest needs and priorities are met by this bill. We need to ensure we can safely reopen schools, get tens of millions of people vaccinated quickly, and provide a viable economic lifeline for millions of families trying to pay rent or put food on the table. Our constituents have waited too long for this relief already, and I'm proud that it is now on its way."

The American Rescue Plan will save lives and livelihoods:

Put Vaccines in Arms: The plan will mount a national vaccination program that includes setting up community vaccination sites nationwide. It will also take complementary measures to combat the virus, including scaling up testing and tracing, addressing shortages of personal protective equipment and other critical supplies, investing in high-quality treatments and addressing health care disparities.
Put Children Safely Back in School: The plan will make a nearly $130 billion investment in school re-opening and making up for lost time in the classroom. These funds can be used for such things as reducing class sizes, modifying spaces so that students and teachers can socially distance, improving ventilation, implementing more mitigation measures, providing personal protective equipment, and providing summer school or other support for students that help make up lost learning time this year. The plan also provides resources for higher education, Head Start and childcare facilities.
Put Money in People's Pockets: The plan finishes the job on the President's promise to provide $2,000 in direct assistance to households across America with checks of $1,400 per person, following the $600 down payment enacted in December. The plan will also provide direct housing assistance, nutrition assistance for 40 million Americans, expand access to safe and reliable childcare and affordable health care, extend and expand Unemployment Insurance so that 19 million American workers can pay their bills and supporting 27 million children with an expanded Child Tax Credit and 15 million low-wage workers through the Earned Income Tax Credit. It will give 27 million workers a raise and lift one million out of poverty by raising the federal minimum wage.
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. 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.

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