In the News

OLYMPIA — Dollars for COVID-19 vaccinations and contact-tracing. Relief for K-12 schools. Child-care funding. Rental and mortgage assistance. Aid to state and local governments. Help for transit.

Wednesday’s approval in the U.S. House of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package will channel billions of dollars to Washington state as schools, businesses, governments and people begin to chart a course toward recovery from a year living with a global pandemic.

Dubbed the American Rescue Plan, the legislation directs a fire hose of money to Washington, including its cities and counties. The state is set to receive $1.9 billion for K-12 schools; $655 million for higher-education institutions; and $635 million for child care, according to numbers shared by the office of Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Medina.

Washington also will receive $7.1 billion in aid for local, county and state governments that saw tax collections drop last year amid the economic downturn caused by the virus and restrictions to stem outbreaks.

Of that, $4.25 billion will go to the state level just as legislators in Olympia prepare new, two-year budget proposals that fund everything from schools and parks, to prisons, environmental programs and social services.

Local government aid includes money for each county, including $437 million for King County and $159.5 million for Snohomish County. Money to cities includes $239 million for Seattle, $84.3 million for Spokane, $63 million for Tacoma and $25.5 million for Yakima.

The legislation is also expected to give roughly $800 million to Puget Sound’s transit agencies. And it contains $3 billion to help aerospace manufacturers meet payroll, Sen. Maria Cantwell’s office said.

The package will also deliver a new infusion of rental assistance to Washington, where the state’s eviction moratorium is expected to expire this month.  

The state expects to get about $404 million in emergency rental assistance, according to the offices of Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Jay Inslee. The governor’s office is “still learning more, including how it would be distributed,” Inslee spokesperson Mike Faulk said.

Those dollars come atop funding in the package to combat COVID-19 and accelerate vaccinations, the much touted $1,400 stimulus checks and assistance for families with children.

“That is a massive package of relief for people who are hurting,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle, said. “Money in people’s pockets.”

One change from previous COVID-19 aid packages passed by Congress, Jayapal said, is that smaller cities will get aid dollars.

The new package sprinkles that money in communities across the state, from Arlington, Bothell and Burien, to Chelan, Hoquiam and Twisp.

The funding is designed, in part, to get Washington’s K-12 schools back open. The money would help schools get equipped with protective gear and air-ventilation systems needed to reopen safely.

“I think this money will get out very, very quickly,” Jayapal said.

DelBene hailed a provision in the bill that expands the Child Tax Credit, which she said was modeled after an earlier proposal by her.

That component will give regular payments to families as much as $300 per month for each child and make that available for some lower-income families who don’t qualify, according to the statement.

DelBene described it as “an incredibly important provision that would help cut child poverty in half across our country.”

“By enhancing the credit, making sure we increase the amount, making regular payments to families, [that] means that we can give millions of children a fair shot at success,” DelBene added.

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