Rep. Pete Aguilar released the following statement on final passage of the American Rescue Plan, President Biden and Congressional Democrats’ legislation to provide funding and resources to help the American people defeat and recover from the coronavirus crisis:

“The American Rescue Plan gives regions like San Bernardino County the tools we need to beat this virus and come out of the other side stronger than ever. This bill will make sure our schools have the funding they need to safely reopen, families will have the financial relief they need to make ends meet, small businesses will have resources to keep their doors open and our communities will have access to life-saving vaccines to finally crush the virus. President Biden didn’t just promise to help us rebuild, he promised that we’d build back better. The legislation we passed today allows us to do just that.”

 

WATCH: AGUILAR SPEAKS ON HOUSE FLOOR IN FAVOR OF AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN

The bill includes $350 billion for state and local governments, and will distribute funding in the following amounts to local governments in CA-31:

County/City	Estimated Relief Amount
County of San Bernardino	$422,814,060
City of Colton	$10,319,417
City of Grand Terrace	$2,368,662
City of Fontana	$52,337,523
City of Loma Linda	$4,608,200
City of Rancho Cucamonga	$25,629,074
City of Redlands	$13,460,756
City of Rialto	$30,2769,489
City of San Bernardino	$84,899,599
City of Upland	$15,921,778

The American Rescue Plan also takes key steps to help Inland Empire families by:

• Providing most working families with additional direct relief payments of up to $1,400 per person, bringing the total benefit to $2,000 since December.
• Increasing the Child Tax Credit to $3,000 per child for 2021 and making it fully refundable this year.
• Making advance payments of the Child Tax Credit starting in July, so parents can receive the tax credit assistance throughout the year, rather than just at tax time. 

The bill centers on four key steps forward to help Inland Empire residents overcome this crisis and to help our economy safely reopen:

• Put Vaccines in Arms: The plan will mount a national vaccination program that includes setting up community vaccination sites nationwide and addressing disparities facing communities of color. It will also take complementary measures to combat the virus, including scaling up testing and tracing, addressing shortages of personal protective equipment and other critical supplies, investing in high-quality treatments and addressing health care disparities. 
• Put Children Safely Back in School: The plan will make a nearly $130 billion investment in school re-opening and making up for lost learning.
• Put Money in People’s Pockets: The plan finishes the job on the President’s promise to provide $2,000 in direct assistance to households across America with checks of $1,400 per person, following the $600 down payment enacted in December. The plan will also provide direct housing assistance, nutrition assistance for 40 million Americans, expand access to safe and reliable child care and affordable health care, extend unemployment insurance so that 18 million American workers can pay their bills and supporting 27 million children with an expanded Child Tax Credit and more than 17 million low-wage workers through an improved Earned Income Tax Credit.
• Put People Back In Jobs: The plan will provide crucial support for the hardest-hit small businesses, especially those owned by entrepreneurs from racial and ethnic backgrounds that have experienced systemic discrimination, with EIDL grants, expanded PPP eligibility and more. The plan also provides crucial resources to protect the jobs of first responders, frontline public health workers, teachers, transit workers and other essential workers that all Americans depend on.