On March 11, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act (H.R. 1319). At close to $1.9 trillion dollars, the COVID rescue legislation is being touted as one of the largest economic assistance packages since the New Deal. The legislation provides additional relief to address the continued impact of COVID-19 pandemic and builds on previous COVID related stimulus legislation such as the recent year-end spending and aid package, the CARES Act and, the Families First Act. 

Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) Social Policy staff has been working closely with the administration and Congress to advance priorities that respond to people who continue to suffer as a result of the pandemic. Please see the CCUSA COVID Relief priorities here. 

The following "Charities at Work Podcast" from CCUSA discusses the legislative priorities that CCUSA has for the Covid-19 relief bill. This aired on March 4, 2021 which was before the legislation was passed. Please listen to Anthony Granado, the Vice President of Government relations at CCUSA, as he discusses Catholic Charities USA's top priorities for the 117th Congress and the Covid-19th Relief Plan.

The $1.9 trillion package includes many provisions that will be of interest to the Catholic Charities network and the clients they serve, they include:   

• Provide $1,400 in direct payments to individuals and dependents.
• Extend pandemic unemployment programs.
• Expand tax credits for families and for employers who offer paid leave.
• Fund state and local government aid, testing and vaccine activities, schools, mass transit systems, restaurants and other small businesses, child care, housing, nutrition, and more.
• Expand subsidies to purchase health insurance under the Affordable Care Act for two years.
• Temporarily increase Medicaid funding to states that expand their programs.
• Expansion of Emergency Food and Shelter Program monies: $400M for general program use and $110M to assist communities responding on the border and elsewhere with new migrants.

The Full summary of the Bill is being circulated by CCUSA. Below I briefly incorporate the top line provisions contained in the American Rescue Plan. 

STATE & LOCAL AID - The measure includes about $360 billion to help state, local, tribal, and territorial governments mitigate fiscal effects tied to the Covid-19 emergency. Funding for local governments would include $65.1 billion for counties, $45.6 billion for metropolitan cities, and $19.5 billion for towns with fewer than 50,000 people. 

The measure would set 60-day deadlines to distribute most funds to state and local recipients. A second tranche of funds would be distributed to localities 12 months after the initial allocation. The Treasury Department could also withhold up to half of a state or territory’s allocation for as long as 12 months based on its unemployment rate and require an updated certification of its funding needs. States would have to distribute funds to smaller towns within 30 days of receiving a payment from the department, with extensions permitted. States that miss the deadline would have to pay back any undistributed funds. A town couldn’t receive more than 75% of its budget as of Jan. 27, 2020. Use of Funds: State and local recipients could the funds to cover costs incurred by Dec. 31, 2024, to: 

• Respond to the Covid-19 emergency and address its economic effects, including through aid to households, small businesses, nonprofits, and industries such as tourism and hospitality.
• Provide premium pay to essential employees or grants to their employers. Premium pay couldn’t exceed $13 per hour or $25,000 per worker.
• Provide government services affected by a revenue reduction during the pandemic.
• Make investments in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure.

TAX PROVISIONS - 

• Direct Payments: The bill would provide another round of direct payments of as much as $1,400 for an individual, $2,800 for joint filers, and $1,400 for each qualifying dependent.
• Earned Income Tax Credit: The measure would expand the earned income tax credit for taxpayers without children for 2021 by increasing the credit percentage and phase out thresholds.
• Child Tax Credit: The measure would expand the child tax credit, which provides a credit of as much as $2,000 for each child younger than 17, for 2021.
• Dependent Care: The bill would temporarily increase the value of the child and dependent care tax credit, which covers 35% of care expenses of as much as $3,000 for one dependent or $6,000 for two or more dependents.
• Employee Retention Credit: The measure would extend through Dec. 31 an employee retention credit established by the CARES Act. The measure also would expand eligibility for the credit to new startups that were established after Feb. 15, 2020.
• Paid Leave Credits: The bill would extend through Sept. 30 tax credits for employer-provided paid sick and family leave. The value of the credits would be increased to match an employer’s share of contributions to defined benefit plans and registered apprenticeship programs.

LABOR PROVISIONS - Unemployment Extensions The measure would modify and extend several pandemic-related unemployment benefits created under the CARES Act and extended under Public Law 116-260. 

It would extend the extra $300 Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation through Sept. 6. The House-passed version of the package would have increased the payments to $400 and extended them through Aug. 29. 

The bill would extend through Sept. 6 other CARES Act jobless benefits slated to expire on March 14, with changes that would include: 

• Increasing the duration of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits to as long as 79 weeks, from 50 weeks, for individuals who don’t qualify for regular benefits.
• Extending to 53 weeks, from 24 weeks, benefits under the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program for those who’ve exhausted regular benefits.

It also would extend through Sept. 6: 

• Federal payments to nonprofits and government agencies for 75% of the costs of providing unemployment benefits, increased from 50%.
• Interest-free federal loans for state unemployment trust funds.
• Full federal funding to qualifying states for the Extended Benefit and work-sharing programs.
• Full, instead of partial, federal funding for states to provide regular unemployment benefits without a waiting period.

Workplace Safety - The measure would provide $200 million for the Labor Department to carry out worker protection activities related to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Workers’ Compensation - The bill would establish a presumption that a Covid-19 diagnosis is work-related and authorize benefits, including disability, medical, and survivor benefits, for federal employees. It would cover workers who contracted Covid-19 during a three-year period starting Jan. 27, 2020. The provision wouldn’t apply to full- or part-time employees teleworking. 

HEALTH CARE - 

Medicaid Changes: 

• Covid-19 Coverage: Covid-19 vaccines and treatments would be covered until a year after the pandemic ends at no cost to beneficiaries under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) would be increased to 100% for vaccine costs during that period.
• Coverage Expansions: The measure would increase a state’s FMAP by 5 percentage points for two years if it expands Medicaid to cover the newly eligible adult population under the Affordable Care Act
• Drug Rebates: The measure would end, in 2024, a cap on the rebate that drug companies provide to Medicaid, which is currently limited to 100% of the average manufacturer price. Once that cap is reached, drug makers can raise their prices without increasing the net rebates that must be paid.

Medicare Changes: 

• The measure would allow the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to waive a requirement during the pandemic that ambulance services include transportation to a hospital to receive Medicare payments, if they didn’t transport the patient because of Covid-19-related protocols.

ACA Subsidies: A series of related subsidies for the Affordable Care Act including Tax Credits, Cost-Sharing Subsidies, COBRA Coverage, Health-Care Funding, Child care and other HHS Funding subsidies which would include a $4.5 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

EDUCATION - The measure would provide $122.8 billion for grants to states to support local educational agencies in addressing learning loss. The Education Department would also receive $2.75 billion for support to non-public schools.

HOUSING AID - 

• Rental Assistance: The reconciliation measure would provide $21.6 billion for rental assistance payments through the Treasury Department. The measure also would set aside $305 million for several U.S. territories and $2.5 billion for “high-need grantees” based on their population of low-income renter households, rental market costs, and employment changes since February 2020. Grantees would have to use the funds to provide financial assistance to eligible households, including for rental and utility payments. Total assistance provided to a household under the measure and the year-end package couldn’t cover more than 18 months.
• Homeowner Assistance: The measure would provide $9.96 billion to establish a Homeowner Assistance Fund at the Treasury Department.
• Emergency Housing: The measure would provide $5 billion for emergency Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers.

These are just a few highlights of the Bill we wanted to share with you.