One year ago, the COVID-19 pandemic swept across our nation and El Paso, resulting in millions of job losses, closing thousands of small businesses, exacerbating poverty and food insecurity, and eventually taking the lives of more than 530,000 Americans.
El Pasoans deserve a robust, comprehensive response to this pandemic, and this week, I voted for the American Rescue Plan Act to deliver desperately needed relief, and today, President Joe Biden signed it into law.
The American Rescue Plan delivers critical relief to El Paso families and small businesses, will lift millions out of poverty, and accelerates vaccination efforts to finally defeat the virus. To ensure you have all of the information possible about the resources that will become available to you, I’m holding a bilingual tele-town hall on the American Rescue Plan: Vaccine and Relief Programs, this Saturday, March 13, 2021, at 9 a.m. MT. Please read below for the details.
An analysis prepared by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform estimates that the American Rescue Plan will provide over $16.8 billion in state funding for Texas in addition to urgently needed funding for El Paso communities:
- El Paso County: $162.7 million
- City of El Paso: $159.2 million
- City of Socorro: $7.4 million
- Town of Horizon City: $4.2 million
- City of San Elizario: $1.9 million
- Town of Anthony: $1.1 million
- Village of Vinton: $440,875
- Town of Clint: $240,000
The American Rescue Plan will also:
Put Vaccines in Arms: The plan will mount a national vaccination program that includes setting up community vaccination sites nationwide and addressing disparities facing communities of color. It will also take complementary measures to combat the virus, including scaling up testing and tracing, addressing shortages of personal protective equipment, etc.
Put Children Safely Back in School: The plan will make a nearly $130 billion investment in school re-opening and making up for lost learning.
A previous analysis prepared by the House Committee on Education and Labor estimates that the American Rescue Plan will, if the Texas Education Agency adheres to the mechanisms in this legislation, provide the following amounts to our local school districts:
- El Paso Independent School District: $208,996,000
- Ysleta Independent School District: $145,025,000
- Socorro Independent School District: $115,735,000
- Clint Independent School District: $37,795,000
- San Elizario Independent School District: $16,668,000
- Canutillo Independent School District: $13,460,000
- Fabens Independent School District: $12,017,000
- Tornillo Independent School District: $4,170,000
- Anthony Independent School District: $2,062,000
Put Money in El Pasoan’s Pockets: The plan finishes the job on my and President Joe Biden’s promise to provide $2,000 in direct assistance to households with checks of $1,400 per person, following the $600 down payment enacted in December. The plan will also provide direct housing assistance, nutrition assistance for 40 million Americans, expand access to safe and reliable childcare and affordable health care, extend unemployment insurance so that 18 million American workers can pay their bills, and supporting 27 million children with an expanded Child Tax Credit and more than 17 million low-wage workers through an improved Earned Income Tax Credit.
Put People Back in Jobs: The plan will provide crucial support for El Paso’s hardest-hit small businesses with EIDL grants, expanded PPP eligibility, and more. The plan also provides crucial resources to protect the jobs of first responders, frontline public health workers, teachers, transit workers, and other essential workers that all Americans depend on.
For more information on the American Rescue Plan, please click here.
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