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Sewell continues American Rescue Plan district tour

Sewell continues her district-wide tour Tuesday touting the benefits of the American Rescue Plan.

Terri Sewell speaking during her American rescue plan tour.

Congresswoman Terri Sewell, D-Alabama, on Tuesday will meet with local officials in Montgomery and Wilcox Counties as well as a small business in Montgomery and a state-wide aging network on aging and seniors to discusses relief efforts.

Sewell will continue her District Tour highlighting the various COVID-19 relief funding in the American Rescue Plan and will discuss critical provisions included in the legislation that will help older adults get the supports they need at home and boost their financial security.

Sewell will highlight the COVID-19 direct funding relief that local governments will receive from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that was signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021.

The American Rescue Plan will provide over $1.8 billion in local fiscal relief to cities and counties across Alabama, including $43.93 million to Montgomery County, $42.14 million to the City of Montgomery, and $1.88 million to the Town of Pike Road. The American Rescue Plan will provide $2.01 million to Wilcox County, $160,000 to the City of Pine Hall and $330,000 to the City of Camden. This legislation will establish a Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund that will give localities direct funds/

Sewell was the only member of the Alabama Congressional Delegation to vote in favor of the bill and played a critical role in the passage of the American Rescue Plan.

“As the only member of the Alabama Congressional Delegation to vote in favor of this life-saving legislation, I was proud to join with Congressional Democrats to ensure equitable vaccination distribution, deliver direct relief to Alabamians and their families, put children safely back to school, and put people back in jobs,” Sewell said. “I want my constituents to know that Help is Here!”

Rep. Sewell will meet with the Montgomery County Commission, SDAC President and Founder Paul Morrow, the Alabama Tombigbee Area Agency on Aging about the work they have done for seniors in the midst of COVID, Wilcox County mayors, the Wilcox County Commission, and the Montgomery City Council to highlight the funding assistance in the American Rescue Plan.

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The American Rescue Plan has several provisions:

  • The plan spends $20 billion in additional funds for vaccinations including 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.
  • The plan sends most Americans another $1,400 check in direct assistance to households across America, following the $600 down payment signed by President Trump 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 support 27 million children with an expanded Child Tax Credit and more than 17 million low-wage workers through an improved Earned Income Tax Credit.
  • The plan delivers $170 billion for education and $45 billion for child care providers. This includes a $130 billion investment in K-12 school re-opening and making up for lost time in the classroom, with funds that can be used for such things as reducing class sizes, modifying spaces so that students and teachers can socially distance, improving ventilation, implementing more mitigation measures, providing personal protective equipment and providing summer school or other support for students that help make up lost learning time this year. The plan also provides more than $40 billion for higher education.
  • The plan provides 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 funds to protect the jobs of first responders, frontline public health workers, teachers, transit workers and other essential workers that all Americans depend on.

Republicans warn that the plan adds $1.9 trillion to the national debt, costing Americans billions in interest on the debt every year for the foreseeable future, with no current plans to seriously address either the $28 trillion debt or the growing burden entitlements have placed on the government’s ability to pay its bills.

Sewell is serving in her sixth term representing Alabama’s 7th Congressional District.

Brandon Moseley is a former reporter at the Alabama Political Reporter.

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