Secures Critical Funding for Arizona State & Local Governments
(Washington, DC) — Today, Rep. Kirkpatrick voted to pass the final version of the American Rescue Plan, the COVID-19 relief package which would deliver urgently important funding to hard-hit Arizona workers and families, fund a national vaccine program, and get our economy back on track. After passing the Senate along party lines last week, the final version of this landmark legislation is finally on its way to the President’s desk for a signature.
As a member of the influential Appropriations Committee, Rep. Kirkpatrick specifically and strategically advocated for more state and local aid in the bill. State and local governments’ revenues have been decimated by the pandemic, especially in Arizona, which is why the added funding is especially crucial.
The $1.9 trillion dollar package will send roughly $7.6 billion in total to the State of Arizona, which includes:
· Nearly $5 billion to the State;
· $203 million to Pima County;
· $24 million to Cochise County;
· $140 million dollars to the City of Tucson;
· $7 million to Sierra Vista, AZ;
· $4 million to Douglas, AZ;
· $1.25 million Bisbee, AZ;
· $1.16 million to Benson, AZ;
· and $7.50 million to the Town of Sahuarita.
The bill also includes major funding for Arizona’s education system so that schools have the resources to both reopen safely for in-person learning and address significant impact on students’ well-being:
· Approximately $972 million for child care;
· $15,758,000 for Head Start;
· $2,663,176,000 for K-12 education;
· and $683,382,000 for higher education.
“Arizona families’ lives and livelihoods have been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent economic crisis,” said Rep. Kirkpatrick. “With tens of millions of Americans infected, more than half a million lives lost, millions more unemployed and food and housing insecure, the time for action is now. Our highest needs and priorities are met by this bill. We need to ensure we can safely reopen schools, get tens of millions of people vaccinated quickly, and provide a viable economic lifeline for millions of families trying to pay rent or put food on the table. Our constituents have waited too long for this relief already, and I’m proud that it is now on its way.”
The American Rescue Plan will save lives and livelihoods:
- Put Vaccines in Arms: The plan will mount a national vaccination program that includes setting up community vaccination sites nationwide. It will also take complementary measures to combat the virus, including scaling up testing and tracing, addressing shortages of personal protective equipment and other critical supplies, investing in high-quality treatments and addressing health care disparities.
- Put Children Safely Back in School: The plan will make a nearly $130 billion investment in school re-opening and making up for lost time in the classroom. These funds can be used for such things as reducing class sizes, modifying spaces so that students and teachers can socially distance, improving ventilation, implementing more mitigation measures, providing personal protective equipment, and providing summer school or other support for students that help make up lost learning time this year. The plan also provides resources for higher education, Head Start and childcare facilities.
- Put Money in People’s Pockets: The plan finishes the job on the President’s promise to provide $2,000 in direct assistance to households across America 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 and expand Unemployment Insurance so that 19 million American workers can pay their bills and supporting 27 million children with an expanded Child Tax Credit and 15 million low-wage workers through the Earned Income Tax Credit. It will give 27 million workers a raise and lift one million out of poverty by raising the federal minimum wage.
- Put People Back In Jobs: The plan will provide crucial support for the hardest-hit small businesses, especially those owned by entrepreneurs from racial and ethnic backgrounds that have experienced systemic discrimination, 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.
“On behalf of the City of Tucson, I cannot overstate our gratitude to our Congressional Delegation for their tireless efforts to pass the American Rescue Plan, and provide much needed relief to small businesses, workers and families, and local governments,” said Tucson Mayor Regina Romero. “These funds represent a critical lifeline to so many Tucsonans who have been negatively impacted by the economic fallout caused by the pandemic. The City of Tucson is committed to being a strong partner with the federal government to quickly get these funds out to our community, as we had previously done through the We Are One | Somos Uno Resiliency Fund.”
“Our Tucson and Southern Arizona community continues to need critical support to help families cover pressing needs such as food, shelter, and essential items. We are grateful that alongside President Biden, Rep. Kirkpatrick and members of congress passed the American Rescue Plan,” said Melissa D’Auria of United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona. “The expansion of the Child Tax Credit will be life changing for the poorest families in our community who have previously been excluded from this credit. For nearly 100 years, our United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona has been working diligently to address financial wellness and breaking the cycle of poverty. Low-income families have volatile income, and the expansion of the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit allows families to bridge gaps they previously couldn’t.”
“The American Rescue Plan will go a long way toward helping Arizonans and all Americans recover from the economic impact of the pandemic through direct payments and the extension of jobless benefits,” said Lee Lambert, the Chancellor of Pima Community College. “Community college students have been particularly vulnerable during this time, many of whom are low income, and we are so appreciative of Representative Kirkpatrick’s commitment to helping our citizens, and our students in particular. Her and the rest of Arizona Congressional delegation’s work on this will help our economy recover more quickly.”
“I’m extremely grateful to our Congressional delegation for working tirelessly to make the American Rescue Plan a reality,” said Pima County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bronson. “This package will provide much-needed relief to working families, schools, and businesses that have been devastated by this pandemic. I’m also looking forward to the vital assistance that this aid is going to provide to our vaccination efforts. The sooner we get shots into the arms of Pima County residents, the sooner we can all get back to normal.”
“We are grateful for Congresswoman Kirkpatrick’s leadership in passing the American Rescue Plan,” said Douglas Mayor Donald Huish. “It will provide much needed financial relief to our border community which has been adversely affected by this pandemic resulting in border crossing restrictions. Many families in our community will benefit from the stimulus funds, increased testing, and vaccine distribution.”
“The American Rescue Plan provides a huge financial infusion to states and local governments as well as to schools to help them reopen,” said Amber Smith, President & CEO of Tucson Metro Chamber. “Perhaps most importantly, the bill provides funding for priorities like coronavirus testing and vaccine distribution. To get our economy going, access to testing and vaccines is critical as we fight for businesses to fully open, provide employee and consumer confidence to fill jobs, purchase goods, retain services and dine at our restaurants.”
“We are so grateful that our Members of Congress, including Congresswoman Kirkpatrick, voted to pass the American Rescue Plan,” said W. Mark Clark, President & CEO of Pima Council on Aging. “Funding from this plan will help ensure that older adults can stay at home, safely, until they are fully vaccinated – reducing the number of older adults in hospitals and other high levels of care, as well as the number of COVID-19 deaths. It also provides funding to help get vaccines to vulnerable older adults. This much needed funding comes as a huge relief to our community that has struggled so much over the past year.”
“The passage of the American Rescue Plan means thousands of Americans who’ve worked hard for a retirement can be assured that the pensions they’ve earned are safe and secure via the inclusion of the Butch Lewis Act,” added Trish Muir, Chair of the AFL-CIO Pima Area Labor Federation. “Southern Arizona’s working families can finally begin to receive direly needed housing assistance that the Pima Area Labor Federation has been advocating for since the beginning of this pandemic, and our essential workers who’ve kept us fed and safe will finally be prioritized in the distribution of the vaccine.”