UnidosUS President and CEO Applauds Senate Passage of American Rescue Plan with Greater Inclusion of Latinos

on

Bill expected to benefit millions of Hispanic children.

WASHINGTON, DC—In response to the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act today in the U.S. Senate 50-49, UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguía issued the following statement:

“The global COVID-19 pandemic has ended the precious lives of more than 520,000 Americans, a disproportionate number of whom are Hispanic, Black and other people of color. The government response so far has not matched the need nor sufficiently responded to the health and economic devastation.

“The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 changes that dynamic and corrects the inadequate government effort we have witnessed to date. Congress has now made it possible to put in place a federal response that is as aggressive as the virus. With Senate passage of the act, we are one big step closer to defeating COVID-19 through robust testing and vaccines as well as providing struggling families with the financial support they need through extended unemployment payments, stimulus checks and tax credits.

“I commend House and Senate majority leadership for shepherding this nearly $2 trillion bill through Congress and defeating efforts to strip out aid that Latinos and all Americans desperately need. I look forward, once the House passes it again, to the president signing this historic legislation.

“When President Biden signs the act into law, it will help people remain in their homes, expand health coverage and care, prevent hunger in children and families, allow children to return to school safely, and provide emergency support to college students.

“Among the many worthy provisions, we applaud the inclusion of stimulus payments for millions of mixed-status families who were wrongly excluded from the CARES Act and the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Child Tax Credit which would deliver fully refundable credits to low-income children and their families and would mean 9.9 million Latino kids would no longer be punished for living in poverty. The bill also includes desperately needed funding to expand housing counseling assistance to help renters and homeowners to remain in their homes.

“Emergency aid—which includes Latinos more fully than previous relief packages and will put our nation on a more inclusive path to recovery—is on the way. We at UnidosUS look forward to working with the federal government to ensure that the resources included in this bill, once passed into law, reach our communities most in need.”