eNewsletters

Dear friend,

This weekend marks a year since the first known COVID-19 death in the U.S. was announced in our community. My heart breaks when I reflect on all that we have lost this year—over 500,000 lives with families, stories, and potential.

We cannot go back in time, but we can act urgently to save lives and support Americans who are struggling during this economic and public health crisis. The first step is successfully passing the American Rescue Plan, which is estimated to speed up our national recovery by a year.

Last night, I voted to pass this relief package, which now moves over to the Senate. With enhanced federal unemployment benefits set to expire on March 14, I urge my colleagues to act swiftly to avoid causing undue suffering for those who are relying on federal relief programs to get by. We were sent to Washington on the promise of delivering more relief and that’s what we need to do.

The bill includes:

• A one-year expansion of the Child Tax Credit, legislation I introduced to help rebuild our middle class. The expansion will provide qualifying families with regular payments and make the benefit fully available to lower-income families. I will continue to fight for a permanent expansion of the credit, which is estimated to cut child poverty nearly in half.

• An additional $1,400 in direct assistance for qualifying Americans, bringing the total to $2,000 per person with what we approved in December.

• A national vaccination strategy and $160 billion to get shots out faster and improve testing.

• An increase in enhanced federal unemployment assistance to $400 per week and extension through August.

• $130 billion to help safely reopen our schools.

• Expanded small business lending programs like PPP. 

You can find out more about the plan here.

As always, I am here to help you. If you need assistance at this difficult time, please do not hesitate to contact my Kirkland office at (425) 485-0085. For more updates on what I’m doing for WA-01, you can follow me on social media at the links above.

Stay safe and stay healthy,

Suzan