American Rescue Plan Got Kids Back in the Classroom Safely; Is Helping Students Catch Up – More HERE
Sen. Murray: American Rescue Plan Powered Economic Recovery by Helping People Go To Work and Take Care of Their Families – More HERE
Millions of People Are Saving Thousands of Dollars on Health Care This Year Thanks to Passage of American Rescue Plan – More HERE
One Year Later, Thousands Of Pensions Saved By American Rescue Plan, PBGC Reviewing Relief For Over 160,000 More – More HERE
Senator Murray: “Whether it was the Child Tax Credit helping a couple in Spokane pay for diapers or money to help schools across Washington state reopen safely so that our kids could get back to in-person learning, the American Rescue Plan has made a world of difference in getting people back on their feet and life back to normal.”
Senator Murray: “We have more work to do to make sure this economy works for everyone. That’s why my top priority in Congress right now is to build on the success of the American Rescue Plan and pass legislation that is going to lower everyday costs for working people in a big way.”
***WATCH VIDEO OF THE ROUNDTABLE HERE***
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee held a roundtable with mayors from across Washington state ahead of the one year anniversary of the American Rescue Plan being signed into law on March 11, 2021.
Senator Murray outlined the ways that the American Rescue Plan has supported working people in Washington state with direct cash assistance, lowered health care costs, safely reopened schools, bolstered the state’s public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic and more. Senator Murray also discussed the ways she is working to build on the success and progress of the American Rescue Plan, with a focus on lowering costs for people in Washington state—among other initiatives, Senator Murray is leading proposals to lower prescription drug costs and make child care more affordable and accessible.
“Whether it was the Child Tax Credit helping a couple in Spokane pay for diapers or money to help schools across Washington state reopen safely so that our kids could get back to in-person learning, the American Rescue Plan has made a world of difference in getting people back on their feet and life back to normal,” said Senator Murray. “But we have more work to do to make sure this economy works for everyone. That’s why my top priority in Congress right now is to build on the success of the American Rescue Plan and pass legislation that is going to lower everyday costs for working people in a big way.”
“I want to make sure that single mom in Vancouver can afford insulin for her son, so I’m fighting to cap the cost of this lifesaving drug at $35 per month. I am talking to every single Senator about how parents in the Yakima Valley are on years-long waiting lists for child care or just can’t afford it—and that we desperately need to pass my plan to make sure no working family pays more than 7% of their income on child care,” continued Senator Murray. “I wake up every day and think about what I can do in the other Washington to make life better for people here at home, one year since the American Rescue Plan was signed into law, that’s what I’m focused on.”
Senator Murray was joined by Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle, Tieton Mayor Dewane Ashbrooks, Bellevue Mayor Lynne Robinson, and Pullman Mayor Glenn Johnson.
“Vancouver has focused on using the dollars to create generational impacts on the community and address historic inequities in funding while addressing pressing issues on our most socially vulnerable neighborhoods and the area most directly impacted by the pandemic,” said Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle.
“Bellevue greatly appreciates the $20 million in federal funding to meet our community’s most critical needs during this unprecedented time,” said Bellevue Mayor Lynne Robinson.“To date, we have put the dollars to good use with $7 million for rent relief and housing stability, and $1 million for small business support and workforce training to keep our economy rolling.”
“With the ARPA funding, we’re rejuvenating Pullman’s downtown, supporting businesses, investing in infrastructure and working to bring more people to the community through our tourism initiative,” said Pullman Mayor Glenn Johnson.
“The City of Tieton will always do everything in their power to help the citizens of our community stay safe and healthy,” said Tieton Mayor Dewane Ashbrooks
The U.S. economy has added approximately 6.7 million more jobs since this time last year. A recent nonpartisan analysis found that the American Rescue Plan resulted in 4 million more jobs and nearly doubled GDP growth – and that without it, the United States would have come close to a double-digit recession in spring 2021. The U.S. reached 3.8% unemployment by February 2022; before the American Rescue Plan passed, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) did not project an unemployment rate that low at any time this decade. Moreover, the results of the American Rescue Plan have also been historically equitable, with major progress against child poverty, food insecurity, and unemployment for low-income communities and communities of color.
DIRECT SUPPORT FOR FAMILIES AND WORKING PEOPLE: As the Assistant Democratic Leader, Senator Murray was instrumental in shepherding the American Rescue Plan through the Senate, which expanded the Child Tax Credit and provided important support for more than 1.4 million children in Washington state. The American Rescue Plan also distributed up to $1,400-per-person Economic Impact Payments for the vast majority of adults in Washington state.
Senator Murray is currently working alongside her colleagues to chart a path forward to make the expanded Child Tax Credit permanent.
INVESTING IN WASHINGTON STATE’S KIDS AND FUTURE: As Chair of the Senate Education Committee, Senator Murray secured more than $1.853 billion in American Rescue Plan dollars for K-12 Washington state public schools and $680 million for higher education institutions in Washington state. In particular, these resources helped Washington state public schools get back to full-time in-person learning and meet students’ academic and mental health needs. Importantly, Senator Murray authored provisions of the American Rescue Plan to require school districts aside at least 20% of their K-12 relief funding to help students catch back up academically. The American Rescue Plan also extended Pandemic EBT to establish the first ever national Summer EBT program, a longtime legislative proposal of Senator Murray’s. Of note, Senator Murray helped secure $40 billion in child care relief, the largest ever one-time investment in child care, including $635 million for Washington state, as part of the bill.
Building on the one-time investment in child care from the American Rescue Plan, Senator Murray is fighting to pass a major federal proposal to lower child care costs and expand child care assistance and offer parents the option of free pre-K for three-and-four-year olds.
LOWERING HEALTH CARE COSTS: As Chair of the Senate Health Committee, Senator Murray helped author major steps in the American Rescue Plan to lower health care costs. As a result Washington state saw strong trends of lower costs and increased enrollment following implementation of the American Rescue Plan. The Washington Health Benefit Exchange announced in January that a record 240,000 Washingtonians signed up for 2022 coverage through Washington Healthplanfinder (www.wahealthplanfinder.org), the state’s online health insurance marketplace. In Washington state, support from the American Rescue Plan has meant that around two in five customers have coverage for less than $100 a month, and 46,000 people are covered for less than $10 a month.
Senator Murray is working to extend the tax cuts towards premiums from the American Rescue Plan, and has also helped lead proposals to cap insulin costs at $35 per month for millions of patients with health insurance and give Medicare the power to negotiate for lower drug prices.
KEEPING FAMILIES HOUSED: Senator Murray has been a strong advocate for housing investments, securing more than $400 million in rental assistance, $170 million in homeowner assistance, over 2,400 new Emergency Housing Vouchers, and nearly $100 million for housing and services to support people experiencing homelessness in Washington state specifically through the American Rescue Plan. These federal investments resulted in the largest eviction prevention effort in history. Earlier this year, Senator Murray also announced $143.6 million in Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding for Washington state from the American Rescue Plan, in addition to annual federal appropriations, that would go to families with low-incomes to help with utility and energy costs during the winter. The State of Washington has used $182 million of its flexible funds from the American Rescue Plan so far to provide emergency rental assistance to support households with income at or below 80% of the area median income that have a missed rent payment or partially paid rent payment.
Senator Murray is working to pass an annual government spending package which would expand access to affordable housing and homeownership through increased funding for housing vouchers and investments in revitalization programs.
SUPPORT FOR SMALL BUSINESS: Since the beginning of the pandemic, Washington state businesses have received more than $9 billion in federal relief, much of which came from the American Rescue Plan through programs like the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.
Senator Murray is currently working to secure further federal relief for Washington state small businesses, particularly restaurants.
FIGHTING COVID-19: As Chair of the Senate Health Committee, Senator Murray led Senate Democrats in fighting for robust public health provisions in the American Rescue Plan. The legislation provided $160 billion to support vaccination, therapeutics, testing and mitigation efforts, PPE, and the broader COVID-19 Response effort. Moreover, the American Rescue Plan invested $7.4 billion to recruit and hire public health workers to respond to the pandemic and prepare for future public health challenges. Because of the American Rescue Plan, as of March 7, 2022, 81% of Washingtonians 5 and older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 73.4% of people 5 and older are fully vaccinated.
Looking toward the future, Senator Murray has introduced major bipartisan legislation, the PREVENT Pandemics Act, to help prevent future pandemics by strengthening the nation’s public health and medical preparedness and response systems in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
FLEXIBLE FEDERAL DOLLARS FOR WASHINGTON STATE: Importantly, Senator Murray fought to include $7.1 billion in flexible funding for Washington state and local governments—this money was absolutely necessary to keep essential services up and running and has been used in a variety of ways, from supporting local small businesses to expanding affordable housing options. Thanks to this funding, the Washington state legislature’s proposed budget includes no new taxes and retains $4.2 billion in reserves over the 4-year outlook period, with major investments toward transportation, housing and homelessness, broadband, child nutrition, the state’s paid family and medical leave program, and other critical services.
How communities across Washington state are using flexible funds from the American Rescue Plan:
- Thurston County invested $1.3 million of its flexible funds from the American Rescue Plan in a Works Job Program that will provide grants to nonprofit organizations to hire new workers for one year and connect impacted workers to employment in COVID-19 impacted nonprofits.
- Bellevue will use $500,000 of its flexible funds for rental assistance to small businesses and nonprofits to prevent small business closures and mitigate unemployment due to businesses’ inability to pay rent. The program will target direct relief to landlords and property owners to pay down deferred or back rent for about 55 businesses and cultural nonprofits, focusing on sectors hard hit by the pandemic.
- Federal Way is using $650,000 to provide premium pay to grocery store workers. Grocery workers received an additional $3.00 per hour for work, and the program served 195 workers.
- Pierce County allocated $6 million to continue COVID-19 testing efforts. To ensure the broadest access to testing, Pierce County continues to support mobile and mass testing sites. Mobile testing allows greater access to testing for underserved and vulnerable populations. Testing locations are open to all members of the community.
- Seattle will use its flexible funds to invest $37 million to acquire buildings and/or land to create new affordable housing units for those facing or at risk of homelessness. Seattle aims to purchase four new multifamily buildings with 198 units total.
- The Puyallup Tribe of Indians is constructing a village of tiny homes to reduce homelessness within the community.
- Seattle has committed $3 million to offer all licensed home- and center based child care centers the ability to apply for funds to provide a one-time, direct wage allotment for their child care workers. The city is working with a community-based organization to pass funds onto child care providers who own the business for distribution to their workers.
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