This weekend, Senate Democrats voted to pass the American Rescue Plan, which will provide urgently needed relief to millions of Americans struggling to get by and stay safe a year after the COVID-19 pandemic began. We expect the House to finalize the bill tomorrow. Then, it will head to President Biden’s desk for a signature.
This happened because of people like you and me. Across race, class, geography, gender, and ability, we demanded that our elected leaders care for us and provide the relief we need to be well and make ends meet. This election season, we organized to get leaders into office who will care for us. Then, through text banks, phone banks, and messages to lawmakers, we told our stories, holding our leaders accountable to our vision for a democracy that puts people over profit.
Estimates show the bill could lift half of American children out of poverty by the end of the year. Over 160,000 of Minnesota’s 1.3 million children lived in poverty in 2017, so that could mean 80,000 or more children in Minnesota alone. It’s important we acknowledge the enormity of that.
Here’s a run-down of what’s in the bill. It:
- Provides $1,400 payments to most Americans;
- Invests to accelerate vaccine rollout and testing measures;
- Gets millions to state, local, and tribal governments who are on the front lines of pandemic response;
- Invests in schools and universities;
- Provides rent assistance;
- Expands food assistance;
- Expands access to healthcare under the Affordable Care Act; and
- Provides tax credits to working families.
Read more about the bill in the Star Tribune.
The American Rescue Plan is an important down payment on the long-term investments we’ll need to recover. But while the bill is a step in the right direction for an equitable recovery, it doesn’t go far enough for working families.
We deserve a democracy and an economy in which every person, regardless of skin color or immigration status, can make ends meet. We’re frustrated with the Republicans and corporate Democrats who voted against raising the minimum wage, made millions of people ineligible for aid, or attempted to block relief to undocumented and mixed-status immigrant families.
We’re angry that Minnesota’s Republican delegation continues to let working people down. Representatives Stauber, Emmer, Fischbach, and Hagedorn voted against the American Rescue Plan before it made its way to the Senate. They wrongly claim there’s not enough to go around, but we see through their rhetoric.
In 2017, they voted for tax cuts that cost at least $1.5 trillion and went largely to white elites. Now, when their constituents are struggling to put food on the table, they voted with a party that did everything it could to obstruct and water down the relief we need.
We’re going to keep fighting for what we need – not only to recover from this pandemic, but to ensure that every person, regardless of race, gender, or immigration status can make ends meet and live healthy, joyful, dignified lives.
With you, we’re going to demand our elected officials
- Continue to invest in COVID-19 relief and recovery that puts women, Black and brown Americans, and working-class people first
- Pass measures that ensure we have access to healthcare and the tools we need to care for ourselves and our families, like paid sick time and paid leave;
- Cancel student debt (more to come on this soon!); and
- #StopLine3.
At the state level, we’re calling on our elected leaders to include undocumented Minnesotans and their families in COVID-19 relief legislation. Undocumented Minnesotans work disproportionately in the essential jobs that have gotten us through this pandemic. Without access to unemployment benefits or federal stimulus checks, they’ve had to put their lives on the line just to feed their families. That’s wrong.
How are you feeling about the relief bill? What serves you, and what’s not enough? We’re going to have virtual meetings with elected officials to share our stories and experiences of what we need for real relief and recovery. Fill out this form to join us.
In solidarity,
Katie Blanchard
Movement Building Director
