Last night, I voted for H.R. 133, the fiscal year 2021 appropriations omnibus agreement, which includes a desperately needed $900 billion emergency coronavirus (COVID-19) relief package.
There’s no doubt that this emergency COVID-19 relief legislation falls far short of meaningfully addressing our numerous priorities; however, I also recognize that the bill provides important and immediate relief that we urgently need in order to avoid further devastation. This $900 billion package will prevent an eviction crisis, secure rent, food, enhanced unemployment funds, and direct payments for families – including mixed-status families – and accelerate the free and equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in El Paso have been catastrophic and deeply painful: over 1,300 El Pasoans have died, more than 8,000 filed for unemployment in November, and 1 in 5 children are suffering from food insecurity. My office has been flooded with emails and phone calls from El Pasoans worried about evictions, who don’t know how they’re going to pay rent next month, whether they’ll be able to put food on the table for their families, or when they’ll find a job and steady income again.
From the early days of this deadly pandemic, I’ve sounded the alarm about the crushing impact this would have on minority communities like ours, bringing illness and deaths at higher rates. I have advocated and voted for critical relief legislation at every opportunity in order to protect the lives and livelihoods of El Paso families, workers, and small businesses.
I know El Pasoans desperately need and deserve more, and I advocated for more, but this bill is a start. I’ll continue to work on bigger and bolder relief legislation and work in the upcoming months with the Biden-Harris administration to combat the pandemic and alleviate the pain our families, community, and economy are facing.
Here are some of the COVID-19 relief priorities my colleagues and I fought to be included in the year-end funding package:
- Accelerating vaccine distribution and crushing the coronavirus: The bipartisan COVID-19 relief package finally recognizes that we cannot get our economy working unless we can get the coronavirus under control. The package provides billions in urgently need funds to accelerate the free and equitable distribution of safe vaccines to as many Americans as possible as soon as possible, to implement a strong national testing and tracing strategy with billions reserved specifically for combating the disparities facing communities of color, and to support our heroic health care workers and providers.
- Strong support for small business: My colleagues and I secured critical funding and policy changes to help small businesses, including minority-owned businesses, and nonprofits recover from the pandemic. The agreement includes over $284 billion for first and second forgivable PPP loans, expanded PPP eligibility for nonprofits and local newspapers, TV and radio broadcasters, key modifications to PPP to serve the smallest businesses and struggling non-profits and better assist independent restaurants, and includes $15 billion in dedicated funding for live venues, independent movie theaters, and cultural institutions. The agreement also includes $20 billion for targeted EIDL Grants which are critical to many smaller businesses on Main Street.
- Rental assistance: My colleagues and I secured $25 billion in critically needed rental assistance for families struggling to stay in their homes and an extension of the eviction moratorium.
- Direct payment checks: Despite opposition from Republicans in Congress, Democrats secured a new round of direct payments worth up to $600 per adult and child, also ensuring that mixed-status families receive payments.
- Strengthened Earned Income Tax Credit & Child Tax Credit: The agreement helps ensure that families who faced unemployment or reduced wages during the pandemic are able to receive a strong tax credit based on their 2019 income, preserving these vital income supports for vulnerable families.
- Supports paid sick leave: The agreement provides a tax credit to support employers offering paid sick leave, based on the Families First framework.
- Enhanced Unemployment Insurance benefits: My colleagues and I averted the sudden expiration of Unemployment Insurance benefits for millions and added a $300 per week UI enhancement for Americans out of work.
- Nutrition assistance for hungry families: My colleagues and I secured $13 billion in increased SNAP and child nutrition benefits to help relieve the historic hunger crisis that has left up to 17 million children food insecure. Additionally, the package included $400 million for food banks and $130 million for FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter program.
- Education and child care: The agreement provides $82 billion in funding for colleges and schools, including support for HVAC repair and replacement to mitigate virus transmission and reopen classrooms, and $10 billion for child care assistance to help get parents back to work and keep child care providers open.
- Relieving grieving families: Congresswoman Escobar and Democrats in Congress secured up to $2 billion in FEMA assistance through states for families with funeral expenses due to COVID-19 through December 31, 2020.
A summary of the Bipartisan Agreement on COVID-19 Relief available here and the bill text is available here.
As these benefits become available in the coming weeks, please rest assured I will be working tirelessly to ensure El Pasoans are able to receive the desperately needed benefits as soon as possible. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact my office at (915) 541-1400 or via email at Veronica.Escobar@mail.house.gov.
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