Warner wraps up week with American Rescue Plan update: Relief is on the way

Financial relief will soon be making its way to people, hospitals, small businesses, schools, airports, and local governments around Virginia and across the nation thanks to President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which was approved by the Senate on Saturday and signed into law yesterday.

Praising this legislation’s historic signing, Sen. Warner said:

“By signing the American Rescue Plan into law, President Biden has taken an enormous step in defeating the COVID-19 pandemic and setting our nation on a clear path forward to rebuild from this crisis. Soon, this bold legislation will start delivering urgent relief for Virginians and funding for the Commonwealth’s top priorities.

“The American Rescue Plan will help our nation heal by getting vaccines into arms, expanding COVID-19 testing and tracing, and providing schools with the resources they need to reopen safely. It will also tackle the vast economic challenges related to COVID-19 by putting checks in Americans’ hands, helping small businesses keep their doors open, increasing nutrition benefits for families, assisting struggling renters and homeowners, cutting the child poverty rate in half, and providing funding for state, local, and tribal governments facing drastic budget shortfalls. This bill also includes a record $17 billion in funding to increase affordability and access to broadband – a priority I was proud to secure for the 700,000 Virginians who are still unable to access high-speed internet a year into a pandemic that has further pushed our world online.

“Like any ambitious piece of legislation, the American Rescue Plan is not perfect. I will be the first to acknowledge that the price tag is a significant one. However, this moment is too pivotal to risk doing too little and the future of our country is well worth the investment. I look forward to working to ensure that funding is distributed appropriately, programs are implemented quickly, and Virginians get the help they deserve.”

Here are just a few highlights of what’s included in the American Rescue Plan:

Relief checks: The bill includes an additional round of economic impact payments for individuals making less than $80,000 and joint filers making less than $160,000. More than 3.6 million in Virginia are set to benefit to the tune of $9.32 billion.

Vaccine procurement & testing: The bill spends $160 billion for national vaccination and other health efforts, including testing, tracing, genomic sequencing, public health staffing, and supplies to slow the spread of COVID-19
Keeping small businesses open: The American Rescue Plan has billions to help small businesses keep their doors open, including:
• $7.25 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
• $15 billion for the Targeted Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Advance Program
• $28.6 billion for a new Restaurant Revitalization Fund to provide grants to help small local restaurants, bars, and craft breweries stay in business and keep their workers employed
• $1.25 billion for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) Program to support live entertainment venues, and a critical fix to ensure venue operators can access both PPP and SVOGs
• $10 billion in new funding for the State Small Business Credit Initiative to help small businesses grow and create jobs

Child care & help for families: The bill cuts taxes for working families by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. An estimated 420,000 Virginians will benefit from the EITC expansion. An estimated 1.5 million children across Virginia will benefit from the expanded child tax credit, and it will lift 249,000 children in the Commonwealth out of poverty and deep poverty. Researchers have said the move will cut the child poverty rate in half nationwide this year. The bill also includes $39 billion in dedicated relief for child care, to make sure that child care providers can continue supporting working families. This includes $306 million for Virginia Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) programs, $490 million for Virginia Child Care Stabilization Grants, and $16.6 million for Virginia Head Start programs.

State & local governments: State and local governments in Virginia are set to receive almost $6.9 billion to offset the cost of lost revenues and help the economy recover.

Reopening schools: K-12 schools and higher learning institutions in Virginia will receive $3 billion to help them reopen safely and deal with the educational fallouts of COVID-19.

Help for the unemployed: For the filing week ending March 6th, nearly 300,000 Virginians were relying on some form of unemployment insurance. Without the American Rescue Plan, all of them would have seen their benefits either decrease or disappear.

Keeping Virginians in their homes: Virginia will receive more than $451 million in emergency rental assistance to help renters and small landlords make ends meet. Additionally, the bill sets aside $9.9 billion to aid homeowners nationwide struggling to afford their mortgage payments, utility bills, and other housing costs.

Help for the hungry: The legislation extends a 15 percent increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits through September 30, 2021, which will help the nearly 50 million Americans who have struggled with hunger during the pandemic. Virginians utilizing SNAP will receive an estimated $21 million total monthly benefit increase statewide.

To read more about what’s in the American Rescue Plan and how it will help you, visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/american-rescue-plan/.