American Rescue Plan
In March 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan, a transformational and lifesaving bill, which was a turning point for the United States in the fight against COVID-19. I am proud to have voted for this bill to put money in their pockets, cut child poverty, and provide financial relief to our communities. The American Rescue Plan has given us the tools to overcome this crisis and we have made a lot of progress in crushing this virus. We have now recovered and created 9.5 million new jobs. Here are some of the highlights from this monumental bill.
Table of Contents
State and Local Governments
COVID-19 Vaccination Program
Child Tax Credit
Money in Pockets
Reopening Schools
Lowering Healthcare Costs
Agriculture and Nutrition
Lower Housing and Utility Costs for Families
Supporting Small Businesses
Strengthening Public Safety
Expanding Broadband
Funding for Local Airports Still Struggling from COVID-19 Interruptions
State and Local Government
The American Rescue Plan delivered over $1 million to California's Central Valley to help local governments continue providing vital services to residents like emergency and public health services, retaining employees, and strengthening our efforts to distribute vaccines and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 across the Valley.
Fresno, Madera, and Merced Counties, all of which were facing budget shortfalls, received more than $230 million in local relief:
$194 million for Fresno County
$177 million for the City of Fresno
$31 million for Madera County
$28 million for the City of Madera
$3.5 million for Chowchilla
$54 million for Merced County
$26 million for Merced
$7 million for Los Banos
$5 million for Atwater
$3 million for Livingston
$1 million for Gustine
$1 million for Dos Palos
$175 million for Kern County
$30 million for Kings County
$91 million for Tulare County
$301 million for Sacramento County
$148 million for San Joaquin County
$106 million for Stanislaus County
$10 million for Tuolumne County
Vaccination nationwide
The American Rescue Plan invested $20 billion to mount a coordinated, nationwide vaccine program which helped:
Ensure there are enough vaccines for all Americans through research, development, manufacturing, production, and purchase.
Get vaccines out to all Americans quickly and equitably through community vaccination centers, mobile vaccination units, and more.
Improve communication to strengthen confidence in the vaccine and make sure all Americans know when, where, and how they can get one.
Child Tax Credit
The American Rescue Plan provided critical relief for families to afford childcare, pay the bills, and put food on the table. Nearly 95.5% (215,000) of all children in Costa's district were eligible for the child tax credit.
Expanded the Child Tax Credit to up to $3,600 ($300/month) per child for children ages 0 to 5 and $3,000 ($250/month) per child for children ages 6 to 17. The CTC was fully refundable and eliminated earnings requirements.
Delivered $299 million in child tax credits for over 92,000 families in my district. (Joint Economic Committee Majority, 12/02/2021)
The CTC lifted 27,300 children in my district out of poverty.
Earned Income Tax Credit
For individuals without children, the American Rescue Plan nearly tripled the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to roughly $1,500, the first real increase since 1993. This step benefited more than 17 million low-income workers like cashiers and delivery drivers. Specifically, in California, the EITC benefited over 1.8 million workers.
Money in Pockets
The American Rescue Plan provided rescue checks of up to $1,400 for individuals. Combined with the $600 down payments enacted in December, those additional checks fulfilled Democrats' promise to put $2,000 in Americans' pockets. Also, it extends pandemic-related unemployment benefits so that 18 million American workers were able to pay their bills.
In addition, it strengthened the maximum Earned Income Tax Credit for childless adults from roughly $530 to close to $1,500, raised the income limit for the credit from about $16,000 to about $21,000, and eliminated the age cap for older workers, for 2021. This benefited 15 million low-income workers nationwide, like cashiers and delivery drivers.
Reopening Schools
Costa and Congressional Democrats delivered the largest, one-time federal investment in K-12 education through the American Rescue Plan. This funding allowed school districts to reopen and stay open safely, make up for lost time in the classroom, and ensure students received the services they need to succeed.
Delivered $15,068,884,546 to help K-12 schools in California reopen safely, stay open safely, and get students back on track.
Secured $72,961,905 to help K-12 schools in my district through the American Rescue Plan:
Fresno - $54,094,663
Madera - $796,089
Merced - $12,071,153
In addition, funding was also secured for other Valley districts:
San Joaquin - $14,506,922
Tulare - $22,465,010
Stanislaus – $16,112,185
Kern - $38,253,151
Kings - $3,035,999
Healthcare Costs
The American Rescue Plan helped expand health insurance access for Americans nationwide. It enhanced premium tax credit and enrolled more people under Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans. Thanks to Costa and Congressional Democrats' efforts, more Americans don't have to worry about seeking medical attention and not having coverage.
During President Biden's first year in office, 5.8 million Americans were newly enrolled in ACA plans.
The American Rescue Plan helped Americans on Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans to save $67 a month on health insurance premiums – a total of more than $800 per person each year.
Costa helped 6,000 people in his district newly enroll in health insurance. (Joint Economic Committee, Ways, and Means Committee, 2022)
For California as a whole, Costa and Congressional Democrats helped a total of 590,000 people newly enroll in ACA plans.
Delivered $1,009,228,375 for Community Health Centers to help vaccinate communities in California.
Agriculture and Nutrition
Nearly 25 million adults and 10 million people were food insecure during the pandemic. The American Rescue Plan delivered solutions to address food insecurity among families and support farming communities.
Successfully advocate for a 15% increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for families struggling with food insecurity nationwide.
Provided $1.1 billion in additional Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) administrative funds
Expanded the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Program, which allows convenience stores to purchase necessary food items.
Allocated $800 million for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); $37 million to cover food shortfalls in the Commodity Supplemental Food
Provided $3.6 billion to strengthen our food supply chain
Provided $5 billion to support socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers
Created the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperate Agreement Program (LFPA to maintain and improve food supply chains. Through this program, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) will partner with the California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA), California Department of Public Health (CDPH), California Association of Food Banks (CAFB), and California Food Banks to purchase food from local, underserved farmers across California. This would benefit nearly 250,000 families and connect farmers to various federal resources.
Lower Housing and Utility Costs for Families
The American Rescue Plan is still working to address our housing crisis by delivering emergency rental assistance and direct assistance for mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, utilities, and other related costs.
Delivered $203,610,805 in federal funds to lower energy costs for Californians.
Created the California Mortgage Relief Program to help homeowners get caught up on past-due housing payments and property taxes.
Provided $21.5 billion in emergency rental assistance, to be administered by Treasury, to help millions of families keep up on their rent and remain in their homes.
Allocated $5 billion for emergency housing vouchers for individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness.
Supporting Small Businesses
The pandemic has hurt small businesses and exasperated labor issues. Continued investment in our small businesses is key to our full economic recovery. The American Rescue Plan delivered critical relief to help small businesses recover and bounce back into our economy.
In 2021, Americans nationwide submitted 5.4 million applications for new businesses, marking the highest level recorded. California alone received 520,000 new business applications. With Costa's efforts in the American Rescue Plan:
Allocated $15 billion in additional funding for Targeted Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance payments for those hit hardest by the pandemic nationwide.
Secured $35,489,874 in restaurant grants for CA-16 small businesses.
Secured $23,982,849 in Shuttered Venue Grants (SVOGs) for small businesses in my district, and $2,030,989,118 for small businesses across California.
Expanded the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses to maintain payroll, retain workers' and cover overhead costs.
Strengthening Public Safety
The American Rescue Plan provided local municipalities across the Valley with funding for public safety to fight violent crime and protect our communities. Our Valley communities must have the tools necessary to enhance and strengthen public safety.
Delivered funding to the City of Fresno to increase police staff time to address rising violence and crime (including additional police vehicles). This funding helped Fresno's 911 call center to ensure that 90% of all emergency calls can be answered in 15 seconds.
Expanding Broadband
The Emergency Connectivity Fund is a $7.17 billion program that was created as part of the American Rescue Plan to help provide relief to millions of students, school staff, and library patrons and to help close the homework gap for students who currently lack necessary Internet access or the devices they need to connect to classrooms. I secured essential funding for California and my district, specifically:
Secured $14 million for Schools and Libraries in my district.
Delivered $660 million in total Emergency Connectivity Funding for California
Alview-Dairyland Un Sch Dist. - $185,544.90
Atwater Elem School District - $37,314.00
Big Picture High School – Fresno - $58,140.00
Central Unified School Dist. - $2,043,280.00
Chowchilla Union High Sch Dist. - $104,793.00
Delhi Unified School District - $79,118.75
Dos Palos Oro Loma Jt Unif S D - $759,329.88
Fresno County Economic Opportunities Commission - $19,445.77
Fresno County Superintendent of Schools - $121,919.05
Fresno Unified School District - $34,907,892.80
Gustine Unified School Dist. -$559,167.50
Hilmar Unified School District - $21,600.00
Kepler Neighborhood Schoolkepler Education Inc - $115,356.19
Le Grand Un High School Dist. - $14,568.00
Livingston Union School District - $255,471.40
Madera Unified School Dist. - $273,600.00
Merced River Union Elem Dist. - $173,127.48
Merced Union High School Dist. - $1,104,000.00
San Joaquin Valley Library Sys - $119,967.32
Funding for Local Airports Still Struggling from COVID-19 Interruptions
The COVID-19 pandemic hurt many industries, especially airports with the restrictions on travel in the early stages and among other factors delaying their operations. San Joaquin Valley airports benefited from nearly $8 billion in relief from a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grant funded by the American Rescue Plan.
Thirteen Valley airports received more than $10 million in funding, including:
Fresno Yosemite International: $9.7 million
Chandler Airport, Fresno: $59,000
Madera Municipal Airport: $59,000
Visalia Municipal Airport: $59,000
Castle Airport, Atwater: $32,000
Hanford Municipal Airport: $32,000
Los Banos Municipal Airport; $32,000
Porterville Municipal Airport: $32,000
Reedley Municipal Airport: $32,000
Melford Field, Tulare: $32,000
Delano Municipal Airport: $22,000
Firebaugh Airport: $22,000
Gustine Airport: $22,000