Congressman Steven Horsford Votes to Pass the American Rescue Plan With Major Wins for Nevada

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Steven Horsford voted to pass the final text of the American Rescue Plan, which includes key wins for Nevada's working families, small businesses, schools, and communities.

"Today, I voted to pass the American Rescue Plan to help working families who have fought to stay afloat during one of the most challenging periods of our lives. This bill is for Takiera – a single working mother in my district who will use her stimulus check to pay back rent and buy diapers. It's for Juliana – a teacher at Booker Elementary who has worked tirelessly to keep her students learning during the pandemic. The American Rescue Plan is for the thousands of Nevadans who have called my office over the last year to share heart-wrenching stories and ask for help. With the passage of this bill, Democrats are delivering on our promise to crush the virus, begin our road to recovery and help students and teachers return safely to in-person learning," said Congressman Horsford.

"I'm pleased the Senate agreed to key provisions I fought for in the House, including $1,400 survival checks, funding to support small businesses and keep workers on payroll, and the expanded child tax credit to cut child poverty in half. Critically, the American Rescue Plan also includes provisions from my legislation to extend federal unemployment benefits through September and ensure financial security for job-seekers – especially women and people of color who have been hardest-hit by the pandemic recession. This is a historic bill with much-needed relief, and I look forward to seeing President Biden sign it into law."

• Put vaccines in arms by mounting a major national vaccination program, with community vaccination sites nationwide. These sites will speed up vaccine distribution, address vaccine hesitancy, and tackle low vaccination rates in communities of color. In addition to expanding vaccinations, the plan will scale up testing and tracing, address shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), and invest in high-quality treatments.
• Put money in the pockets of American families by fulfilling President Biden's promise to provide $2,000 in direct assistance with $1,400 survival checks that follow the $600 down payment enacted in December. The plan also provides direct housing assistance and nutrition aid for 40 million Americans.
• Cut child poverty in half by expanding the child tax credit, which provides $3,600 annually per child under 6, and $3,000 annually for children between 6-17, with monthly payments between July and December 2021. It would also support 17 million low-wage workers through an improved Earned Income Tax Credit.
• Provide affordable health care to millions of Americans by providing 100 percent COBRA subsidies for workers who have lost their jobs, capping premium costs for marketplace health care plans at eight percent of income, and fully covering health care premiums for families below 150 percent of the poverty line.
• Get Nevadans back to work by providing critical support for the hardest-hit small businesses, especially those owned by entrepreneurs from racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Congressman Horsford successfully worked to secure more than $4.1 billion in the American Rescue Plan for Nevada's state and local governments, which can be used to keep essential workers on payroll, expand community COVID-19 vaccine distribution, testing, and tracing, and provide rental and housing assistance to families that have fallen on hard times, in addition to other uses. These funds will be available through 2024 to help Nevadan communities rebuild and recover stronger in the long term.

In addition, Congressman Horsford secured over $1 billion to help Nevada schools return to in-person learning and turn a new chapter for students and teachers who have struggled with remote learning during the pandemic. This funding can be used to modernize school buildings to improve alignment with COVID-19 safety protocols, hire additional personnel, and address the significant impact of the pandemic on the emotional, social, and educational well-being of Nevada's students. The American Rescue Plan requires school districts to use at least 20 percent of allocated funding to specifically address pandemic learning loss. Congressman Horsford will demand plans for how these funds will be disbursed to ensure transparency, equitable distribution, and accountability for every dollar so the funding gets to the students who need it most.

To strengthen childcare programs and help alleviate the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on working women, Congressman Horsford secured $365.5 million in emergency funding for Head Start and Nevada childcare programs. The American Rescue Plan additionally includes significant funding to support the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, which provides emergency grants to students to prevent hunger, homelessness, and other hardships caused by COVID-19.

For more information on the American Rescue Plan, click here.

MEDIA CONTACT
Geneva Kropper | Geneva.Kropper@mail.house.gov | 202-849-0251