Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Jimmy Gomez (CA-34) voted to pass H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, implementing President Joe Biden's urgently needed COVID-19 relief package to address this unprecedented health and economic crisis. Upon passage, Congressman Gomez issued the following statement:

"Nearly one year after the pandemic first gripped our country, we now mourn over 500,000 Americans who lost their lives to COVID-19. On top of this unimaginable loss of life, frontline workers – many of whom are Latinos and people of color – continue to face the brunt of this public health and economic crisis while millions of Americans struggle to survive. As we work to get every American vaccinated and our country up and running again, House Democrats have seized this opportunity to provide a federal response that meets the magnitude and severity of this crisis.

“This package builds on prior federal relief efforts passed last year and provides life-saving measures like direct stimulus checks, extended unemployment benefits, funding for vaccine administration, and more. Specifically, I am proud to have fought to include a historic expansion of the child tax credit. This now-monthly payment will be a massive economic boost to our nation’s lowest earners and will cut child poverty in half. I also worked to pave the wave for student loan debt relief with my bill – included in the American Rescue Plan – that prohibits forgiven debt from being counted as taxable income.

“Not only does the American Rescue Plan Act represent a transformative lifeline for struggling Americans, but it will also serve as a roadmap for future assistance as well. Families nationwide are still trying to escape poverty, children are going to bed hungry, immigrants and mixed-status families are desperate for relief, and small businesses are shuttering each day. While this bill will help uplift California’s 34th Congressional District, our work in Congress isn’t over, and I will continue fighting for relief that will support our working families and the individuals most in need.”

The American Rescue Plan delivers the following COVID-19 relief measures:

Direct Payments

• Direct $1,400 stimulus payments to all Americans earning under $75,000 per year

Health and Child Care

• An expanded, fully refundable child tax credit worth $3,000 per child and $3,600 per child under age six that is paid out monthly

• Expanded subsidies for the Affordable Care Act via Congressman Gomez's bill, the Health Care Affordability Act of 2021

• Health care subsidies for workers who lost their jobs and employment-based health insurance due to COVID-19

• $7.6 billion in funding for community health centers

• $39 billion for childcare providers through the Child Care and Development Block Grant

• Expanded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by 15 percent

COVID-19 Response

• $20 billion to establish a National COVID-19 Vaccination Program, including federally run vaccination sites like at Cal State LA

• $48 billion to expand testing, contact tracing, and virus mitigation efforts like personal protective equipment (PPE)

• $750 million for COVID-related research

Schools

• $130 billion to help K-12 schools re-open safely with adequate PPE, ventilation infrastructure, and more

• $40 billion to support colleges and universities

• $7.6 billion to expand internet connectivity to students and communities without broadband access

Unemployment

• An extension of $300/ week federal unemployment benefits and the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program (PUA) until September 6, 2021

Housing and Homelessness

• $27.5 billion for emergency rental assistance

• $4.75 billion for homelessness solutions

• $5 billion for utility assistance

Small Businesses

• $7.25 billion in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding and $25 billion in grants for independent restaurants

• $15 billion for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL)

States, Cities, and Tribes

• $350 billion for states, cities, localities, tribes, and territories to keep critical frontline workers on the job; and

• $30 billion for transit agencies.

The American Rescue Plan also includes a bill introduced by Congressman Gomez which would make any student loan debt forgiven by the federal government tax free. To read more about this legislation, please click here.

For a PDF of the American Rescue Plan, please click here.