HELP IS HERE. President Biden Signs American Rescue Plan into Law.
ARP includes Senator Michael Bennet’s Bill to Cut Childhood Poverty in Half
Denver, CO - This afternoon, after the Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate passed it without any Republican votes -- despite its broad support from Democrats, Republicans, and Unaffiliated -- President Biden signed the highly popular American Rescue Plan into law.
“Democrats delivered for the American people -- plain and simple. This groundbreaking legislation will put money in pockets, get people back to work, help get our kids back to school, support our small businesses, and -- thanks to Senator Michael Bennet’s American Family Act -- cut childhood poverty in half. The fact that zero Republicans voted for this bill to help the people struggling is pathetic,” said Morgan Carroll, Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party.
The American Rescue Plan includes:
- $1,400 Stimulus Checks
- Extended Unemployment Benefits of $300 per week
- $7.5 billion for COVID vaccines
- An expanded child tax credit, increasing the amount to $3,000 for children ages 6 to 17 and $3,600 for children under age 6
- $7.25 billion in new money for the Paycheck Protection Program
- $25 billion for emergency rental assistance
- $30 billion that includes support for transit employees
- $4.5 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program; and
- $170 billion in dedicated funding for public schools to be able to reopen safely.
As stated previously, this stands in stark contrast to 2017, when the first piece of legislation that passed out of the Republican-controlled House, Senate, and White House was a “drunken tax giveaway”, as the Denver Post editorial dubbed it.
“More work needs to be done to build our country back better and stronger, and it’s not going to happen overnight. But with the work of Democrats at the federal level to pass the American Rescue Plan, and the work of the Colorado legislature to pass the Colorado Stimulus, Coloradans should be pleased that they’re seeing all of government working by the people, for the people, for the first time in a long time,” Carroll continued.
“The only question I have for Republicans in Washington, DC like Lauren Boebert, Ken Buck, and Doug Lamborn is this -- if they’re not in Congress to help their constituents during times of health and economic crises, like we’re facing now, then what the hell are they doing there?” Carroll concluded.
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