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March 10, 2021

Trone Votes for American Rescue Plan, Sends Historic COVID Relief to President Biden’s Desk for Signature

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Hannah Muldavin, Hannah.Muldavin@mail.house.gov 

Trone Votes for American Rescue Plan, Sends Historic COVID Relief to President Biden’s Desk for Signature

WASHINGTON — Today, Congressman David Trone (MD-06) voted for final passage of the American Rescue Plan Act, a landmark, life-saving piece of legislation that will provide urgently-needed resources to defeat the virus, put vaccines in people’s arms, put money into families’ pockets, get children safely back into classrooms, and put people back to work. This legislation now heads to President Biden’s desk for his signature well ahead of the March 14th expiration of pandemic unemployment benefits.   

“The American Rescue Plan is exactly what we need in this difficult year to get children, families, and small businesses safely back on their feet,” said Congressman Trone. “Under President Biden’s leadership, we have a bill that can actually meet the moment, saving both lives and livelihoods. This bill will directly put cash in your wallet, get kids back in schools, put people back to work, and get vaccines in the arms of everyone who wants one. President Biden can’t sign this bill fast enough.”

The American Rescue Plan includes money for key initiatives to help the country combat the health and economic crisis. Below are a few of the numerous initiatives in this legislation that will benefit the residents of Maryland:

  • State and Local Funding: $350 billion for state and local governments to support frontline workers, first responders, and other essential workers.
  • Vaccines and Testing:
    • $20 billion to establish a national COVID-19 vaccination program and speed up vaccine distribution.
    • $51 billion to expand testing, contact tracing, and mitigation.
  • Schools: 
    • Nearly $130 billion nationwide to help K-12 schools reopen safely.
      • Funding will go towards repairing ventilation systems, reducing class sizes, ensuring social distancing, and addressing learning loss.
      • Approximately $1.95 billion for Maryland K-12 schools
    • Nearly $40 billion for institutions of higher education.
  • Unemployment: Continues the weekly $300 boost to unemployment benefits through September 6, 2021.
  • Direct Payments: Direct payments of up to $1,400 per person, sharply phasing out for individuals who make over $75,000 and couples making over $150,000.
  • Child Tax Credit:
    • Increases the annual amount from the current $2,000 per child to $3,000 per child for children ages 6-17 and $3,600 per child for children under age 6.
    • Makes the Child Tax Credit fully refundable for 2021.
    • The IRS will make a later announcement on issuing periodic payments that could begin as early as July of this year. 
      • Currently, 11% of children in Maryland’s 6th District live below the poverty line and stand to benefit from this historic child tax credit. Families with young children are even more likely to live below the poverty line.
    • Recent data shows that expanding the Child Tax Credit would cut the child poverty rate in half.
  • Mental Health & Addiction: 
  • Small Businesses:
    • $7.25 billion for additional Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding.
    • Expands PPP eligibility to nonprofit organizations.
    • $26.88 billion in relief for struggling restaurants and bars.
    • $15 billion for targeted Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Advances to support those that did not receive the full benefit in 2020.
    • Creates a program to increase awareness of COVID-19 relief programs to ensure equitable access to relief.
  • Veterans:
    • $14.5 billion to the VA for health care services.
    • Nearly $400 million for up to 12 months of retraining services for unemployed veterans.
    • $272 million to cut down on the benefits claims and appeals backlog caused by the pandemic.
    • Guarantees emergency paid sick leave for VA frontline and essential workers.
    • Ensures that veterans will not have any copays or cost-sharing for preventative or COVID-19 treatment dating back to April 2020.
  • Nutrition:
    • $1.1 billion for SNAP to help manage increased demand.
    • Extends SNAP maximum benefits by 15 percent through September 30, 2021.
    • $800 million for WIC to support low-income women and children.  
  • Housing:
    • $27.5 billion for rental assistance.
    • $10 billion for mortgage payment assistance.
  • Medical Research:
    • $150 million for COVID-19 research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
    • $600 million for COVID-19 research at the National Science Foundation.

Congressman David Trone was elected to the House of Representatives in November 2018 to serve the 6th District of Maryland, which includes all or part of Montgomery, Frederick, Washington, Allegany, and Garrett Counties. Trone serves on the Appropriations, Veterans’ Affairs, and Joint Economic Committees in the 117th Congress and previously served on the Education and Labor and Foreign Affairs Committees. In Congress, Trone is fighting to make progress on issues that matter to Marylanders, including the opioid epidemic, criminal justice reform, and funding for medical research.

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