As we know, the coronavirus pandemic has hit the Latino community especially hard. Latino essential and frontline workers are exposed to the virus every day, and despite representing 18% of the American population, Latinos make up 21% of coronavirus infections and 38% of age-adjusted deaths. President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan—a $1.9 trillion relief bill—into law earlier this month. We take a look at what is in the American Rescue Plan and how it will provide relief to Latino families all throughout the United States.
The American Rescue Plan’s goal is to provide immediate relief for hard-hit families and small businesses and begin the country’s journey towards economic recovery. The plan is set to reduce poverty among the Latino community by nearly 40% through a series of initiatives, grants, and other services. According to the Pew Research Center, 80% of Hispanics favor the economic package.
Mount a national vaccination program
The first step to getting the crisis under control is to vaccinate as many Americans as possible in order to contain the spread of the virus. The American Rescue Plan invests $160 billion into supplies, emergency response, testing, and the public health workforce, with a special emphasis on addressing racial and socioeconomic disparities in COVID-19 outcomes.
Safely reopen schools
The American Rescue Plan will additionally provide $130 billon for the safe reopening of schools. Funds will be distributed at the local and state level for states and school districts to address the needs of their students, including students of color, English learners, and students with disabilities.
Deliver immediate relief
We all know that millions of families throughout the country are struggling to make ends meet. The American Rescue Plan devotes $1 trillion to provide immediate relief for struggling families. This relief will come in the form of:
- $1,400 per-person checks for approximately 85% of households, now including checks for adult dependents
- Extended unemployment insurance benefits and $300 weekly supplements
- Emergency aid to cover back rent and assistance for homeowners to catch up with mortgage payments and utility costs
- 15% increased value of Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits through September 2021 to address food insecurity, and partnerships with restaurants to keep workers on the job
- Increased Child Tax Credit to help cover the costs of raising children, from $2,000 to $3,000 per child (and $3,600 for a child under the age of 6)
- Increased Earned Income Tax Credit for 17 million frontline workers like cashiers, food preparers and servers, and home health aides by as much as $1,000. Many of these jobs are performed by Latino workers
- Expanded child care assistance and increased tax credits to cover costs for child-care providers
- Additional refundable tax credits of as much as half of families’ child care spending for children under 13 to help cut child care costs
- Additional $1 billion for states to cover cash assistance for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) recipients
- Lower or eliminated health insurance premiums for millions of lower and middle-income families enrolled in health insurance marketplaces, set to help over a million uninsured Americans gain insurance coverage during this public health crisis
Support struggling communities
Millions of Latinos and other underrepresented communities have disproportionately suffered the effects of the pandemic. The American Rescue Plan is set to address these disparities by:
- Providing emergency grants, lending and investment to small businesses to retain and rehire workers and procure necessary health and sanitation equipment. The Small Business Opportunity Fund was established to provide growth capital to main street small businesses in economically disadvantaged areas
- Distributing over $360 billion in emergency funding for state, local, territorial and tribal governments to keep frontline workers on the job and distribute vaccines, scale testing, reopen schools, and fund other vital services
- Helping public transit agencies upon which many workers are dependent on to avoid layoffs and service reductions