Congresswoman Sánchez Votes for the American Rescue Plan

WASHINGTON – Rep. Linda T. Sánchez (CA-38) announced today she was proud to vote for the American Rescue Plan, which will provide direct financial support to families, help return children safely to the classroom, get vaccines into our communities, and help the American people get back to work. This legislation now heads to the President's desk for his signature.

"It's been almost a year since our lives were turned upside down. And as we grieve the loss of over 500,000 Americans, millions of working families are running out of options. The American Rescue Plan will extend critical lifelines so that families and small businesses can meet their basic needs as we finally get the pandemic under control," said Congresswoman Linda T. Sánchez.

"This package will get direct cash assistance into the pockets of working families with a payment of up to $1,400 per person. Additionally, this package will deliver $43 billion in aid directly to California state and local governments to help our communities get back on track."

Congresswoman Sánchez continued: "I am also proud that this package includes several provisions that I introduced and have long championed, including The Pandemic Health Care Improvement Act, an expansion of the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, and hazard pay for essential workers as set forth in the Coronavirus Frontline Workers Fair Pay Act."

"The Pandemic Health Care Improvement Act will provide those receiving unemployment benefits with a guaranteed subsidy for health care through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. This critical provision would be a lifeline to those receiving unemployment insurance benefits, ensuring that they receive financial assistance for their health care to keep them covered during the pandemic."

"Additionally, the stimulus package provides much needed relief for children and families with the expansion of the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit – a bill I spent years fighting for to ensure working families have access to child care. While we pull ourselves out from this pandemic, this provision will ensure child care is accessible and affordable for parents and caretakers already struggling to get by."

"The American Rescue Plan also expands the Child Tax Credit, which will help over 27 million children and families across this country and in Southern California. By expanding the child tax credit to $3,600 per child annually and extending the benefit to more families, we will help cut child poverty in the United States in half."

"Finally, this legislation would provide California with funds to deliver hazard pay of up to $13 per hour for the essential workers pulling us through this pandemic. As these workers show up to keep our local economies running, it's only right that they receive fair compensation for their work. They continue to show up for us, we must to do the same for them."

Here are some key elements to the American Rescue Plan:

Finally beat the virus and safely reopen schools – The bill will mount a national vaccination plan that includes setting up community vaccination sites nationwide. It will also scale up testing and tracing, address shortages of personal protective equipment, and address health inequities. And the plan will also make investments necessary to help safely reopen our schools.

Deliver immediate relief to working families – The bill will deliver direct assistance to households across America with a payment of up to $1,400 per person, based on eligibility. An estimated 17 million California households will receive a direct payment. It will also provide direct housing assistance and nutrition assistance, expand access to safe and reliable child care and affordable health care, and expand unemployment insurance so that 18 million American workers can receive help to pay their bills.

Support communities bearing the brunt of the burden – The bill will provide desperately needed support for the hardest-hit small businesses in our communities, particularly minority-owned and truly small businesses with just a handful of employees. And it will provide crucial resources to protect the jobs of first responders, frontline public health workers, teachers, and other essential workers that we all depend on every day.

The critical relief for Californians will include an estimated:

• $43 billion dollars in direct aid to the State of California and local governments to support essential workers, continue delivery of essential services, deliver relief to hard-hit families and businesses, and make necessary investments in water and broadband infrastructure.
  
• $3.8 billion in child care relief by investing in California's child care system and providers through the Child Care and Development Block Grant Program.
  
• $105 million for Head Start to help California families continue to access important quality early learning opportunities.
  
• $15 billion for California's K-12 Schoolsto re-open with necessary resources to keep students and educators safe. This includes repairing ventilation systems, reducing class sizes and implementing social distancing guidelines, purchasing personal protective equipment, and hiring support staff to care for students' health and well-being.
  
• $5 billion for California's institutions of higher education to help weather the COVID-19 pandemic. Half of the funds received by colleges and universities must be distributed to students to help with hardships caused by the pandemic.
  
• $2 billion to help Californians with emergency rental assistance.
  

• $1.6 billion for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim public transit agencies to be used to ensure safe access to reliable transit services.

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