Friends -
What a year it has been!
The terrible pandemic has taken over 500,000 lives. The economic collapse has led to large-scale unemployment and massive loss of income for working families. The shutdown of schools has disrupted the education of young people from pre-K to graduate school. That is the very bad news.
But the good news is that in November, grassroots America stood together, and we won the most important presidential election in American history. And in January, in a major upset, the Democrats won two Senate seats in Georgia and became the majority in a 50-50 Senate.
Elections have consequences. And I'm proud to tell you that because of your hard work and determination, because of the great work done by the Congressional Progressive Caucus and many of us in the U.S. Senate, we have just passed the most significant piece of legislation for working families in the modern history of our country.
The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan will provide significant help to those who need it most. But it will also do something more. At a time when many Americans are giving up on democracy it will help restore faith among the American people that we can have a government that works for all of us, not just the wealthy and the powerful. This legislation is a great victory for the progressive movement and the struggling working class of our country, and it is enormously popular. According to a recent Pew poll, 70% of the American people support the legislation, including 94% of Democrats. And we did this without one Republican vote.
This is a 628-page bill, so I can't tell you everything that is in it. But here are some of the most important provisions.
- Increase direct payments to $2,000 for working class families — 85% of American households will receive a direct payment check. Under the last COVID relief bill passed in late December, working people received $600 in direct payments. Now, under this new legislation, they will receive $1,400 payments. Individuals making up to $75,000 and couples making up to $150,000 will be eligible, and additional payments of $1,400 will be provided per dependent child.
- Extend supplemental unemployment benefits of $300 per week through September 6. Benefits were set to expire on March 14 and now they will be extended for another 25 weeks. This will be a huge relief to unemployed workers who were worried about losing their only source of income. They will also be eligible for a $10,200 tax exemption for unemployment payments.
- Cut child poverty in half by expanding the Child Tax Credit from $2,000 to $3,000, and increasing it to $3,600 for kids ages 5 years old or younger. In the United States today, we have one of the highest rates of childhood poverty of any major country on earth. By expanding the Child Tax Credit, we will be able to substantially reduce child poverty.
- Provide housing assistance to millions of Americans who are struggling to pay their rent, utilities, or mortgage payments. When the moratorium on evictions ends, people will get the assistance they need to stay in their homes. This bill will also confront the homelessness crisis in America.
- Provide substantial funding for vaccine production and distribution to produce the quantity of vaccines that we need and get them into the arms of our people as quickly as possible. We have started to make progress in this area, but we still have a ways to go for businesses and schools to be able to reopen safely.
- Offer significant relief for restaurants and small businesses who have been devastated as a result of this crisis.
- Provide nutrition assistance to the 24 million adults and 11 million children who currently suffer from food insecurity. In the wealthiest country in the history of the world, we can no longer tolerate hunger and the long bread lines that have stretched mile after mile during the pandemic.
- Protect pensions for millions of workers by providing financial support for pension plans that are severely underfunded. Workers have earned those pensions, and they must receive them in full upon their retirement.
- Prevent mass layoffs of public-sector workers at the state and municipal level with strong funding for state and local governments.
- Provide funding for schools so they can reopen safely, including a major increase in funding for after-school programs and summer enrichment programs.
- Double funding for community health centers so that people can get the health care they desperately need. Community health centers provide primary, dental, and mental health care, as well as low-cost prescription drugs, to millions of Americans, the majority of whom are people of color and low-income people.
- Ensure our veterans receive the health care they have earned and deserve by increasing funding at the VA.
But let us be clear. While this legislation is a major victory for economic, racial and social justice, much more needs to be done.
The second Budget Reconciliation bill that we have to pass must address the broader, structural challenges our nation faces. Among the many other issues we must confront is the need to combat climate change by transforming our energy system away from fossil fuels and into energy efficiency and sustainable energy. We must also rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and create millions of new units of affordable housing.
Today, let us acknowledge this important step forward for our movement. We fought, we stood together and we improved the lives of many millions of working families.
Thanks for all you are doing.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders
The American Rescue Plan was a huge step forward for our movement, but there is still much work left to be done. And Bernie can't do it alone.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.