Various Colorado leaders and agencies reacted to the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act, approved by the US House of Representatives on Wednesday and signed into law by President Biden on Thursday, March 11. The Daily Post did not receive any comments from Republican or conservative outlets yesterday. Below is a sampling of what we did receive.
We received this press release from the Colorado Special Districts Association:
Congress has now passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act. The measure includes $360 billion for states, territories, tribes, counties, and cities — all of which will have the authority to transfer relief funding to special districts. President Biden has indicated his intent to sign the package into law and is expected to do so prior to March 14.
Pursuant to the final bill, the $360 billion in state, local, tribal, and territorial fiscal aid will be divided as follows:
$195.3 billion for states
$65.1 billion for counties
$45.57 billion for cities, populations 50,000 or greater
$19.53 billion for cities, populations less than 50,000
$20 billion for tribal governments
$4.5 billion for territories
$10 billion for the Treasury Department to make separate payments to states, territories, and tribal governments to fund capital projects to support work, education, and health monitoring, including remote options, in response to the COVID-19 emergency
In addition to special districts, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments may transfer funds to private nonprofits; public benefit corporations responsible for the transport of passengers and cargo; tribal nonprofits; and native corporations. Relief funds will be available for expenditure through December 31, 2024…
Colorado’s Senate President Leroy Garcia, D-Pueblo, and House Speaker Alec Garnett, D-Denver released the following joint statement in response to the passage of the American Rescue Plan:
“The American rescue plan is the most meaningful, comprehensive piece of legislation to come out of Washington in years. Not only does it send targeted relief to small businesses, reduce healthcare premiums, and support the unemployed, it delivers life-saving assistance to families. Under this bill, low and middle-income parents will receive monthly support payments for their children – cutting child poverty by as much as 45 percent…”
The Colorado Education Association (CEA) sent out some comments by Amie Baca-Oehlert, high school counselor and president of the Colorado Education Association:
Today’s passage of the American Rescue Plan means Colorado students, educators and schools will have the additional financial support they have desperately needed since last year. The projected $1.7 billion dollars earmarked for Colorado schools and higher education will help school districts keep our students and educators safe, enable us to meet the needs of students, and will also help lift thousands of the most vulnerable Colorado families out of poverty. The rescue dollars will also provide much needed support and resources for higher education in Colorado.
Colorado educators advocated for this historic legislation, and we applaud its passage. This financial relief will go a long way in supporting families and keeping students and educators safe as we continue to educate students in a pandemic and build a better future for all students in Colorado, especially our most vulnerable students and students of color.
Colorado’s US Senator Michael Bennet sent a press release that included excerpts from numerous mainstream media reports, mentioning his name specifically — including, for example, this excerpt from the Huffington Post:
Several Republicans said they liked the idea of expanding the child tax credit. However, none supported the Democratic proposal, which is modeled on the American Family Act, a bill first introduced in 2018 by Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). Every Republican has voted against the broader rescue package so far; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called the child tax provisions ‘a brand-new, sprawling cash welfare program.’
Democrats’ proposal would significantly reduce child poverty — not only because of the expanded checks, but because they are getting rid of the income-based phase-in for the benefit. Americans won’t need to have any income in order to qualify.
That’s been of particular concern during the coronavirus pandemic, as many American families have struggled to maintain employment and support their families without adequate child care or consistent schooling options in place…
Renee Johnson, senior advisor to Small Business for America’s Future offered these comments:
Today’s final passage of the American Rescue Plan is a big win for the country’s small businesses as they try to recover from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. We urge President Biden to swiftly sign it into law and turn his focus to working with Congress to bring down the high healthcare costs that are crushing America’s small businesses.
Small Business for America’s Future’s new national survey of small business owners finds the cost of providing health insurance to their employees is the biggest challenge small business owners face—even ahead of the challenges associated with COVID-19. Small business owners overwhelmingly want government action to relieve the burden and strongly support a broad array of policy solutions to help rein in the costs…