WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Scott Peters (CA-52) helped the House pass the Senate amended American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. This final version of the bill provides sweeping funding for COVID relief and includes several changes supported by Rep. Peters to help the people and places across the nation most in need.

“The American Rescue Plan will get vaccines in arms, deliver rapid relief to the millions of struggling Americans and offer continued aid as our nation recovers,” said Rep. Peters. “I voted yes on the previous version of this package with the hope that the Senate would refine its provisions. I wrote to Congressional leadership and urged my colleagues in the other Chamber to increase aid for the restaurant industry, narrow supplemental economic support so that it reaches those truly in need, and provide tax relief for unemployed Americans so they don’t have to face surprise income tax bills on the critical benefits they receive.”

“I am pleased we are now sending a more targeted version of the bill to the president, as I urged. I want to make sure we get the help to the people and places where it does the most good, and this bill will do that.”

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021:

• Increases direct payments to working families by an additional $1,400 per person, targeted to support those most in need.
• Makes the Child Tax Credit fully refundable for 2021 and increases the annual amount to $3,000 per child.
• Provides $20 billion to establish a national COVID-19 vaccination program that will boost the administration and distribution of vaccines, including $5.2 billion to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for advanced research, development, manufacturing, production, and purchase of vaccines, therapeutics, and ancillary medical products.
• Provides $51 billion to scale up COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, and mitigation, including $1.75 billion for genomic sequencing to better track virus variants.
• Extends $300 per month unemployment enhancement benefits through September 6, 2021.
• Exempts up to $10,200 of unemployment benefits from taxable income that will help prevent surprise tax billing on struggling Americans.
• Includes $28.66 billion for the hardest-hit restaurants and bars through a new Restaurant Revitalization Fund program at the Small Business Administration (SBA).
• Helps small businesses and nonprofits through enhanced investment and eligibility expansion of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), in addition to an added $15 billion for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and the creation of a $25 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund.
• Supports state and local governments. It is estimated that California will receive $26 billion, San Diego County will receive $647.45 million, the City of San Diego will receive $306 million, Poway will receive $9.28 million, and Coronado will receive $4.46 million under the new package. This money can also be used to financially support entities like the Port of San Diego, which expects a loss of $98 million this fiscal year.
• Provides nearly $130 billion to help K-12 schools reopen safely, plus additional funding to support colleges and universities.
• Improves accessibility and affordability of child care, with $39 billion through the Child Care and Development Block Grant for child care providers and critical funding for Head Start.

Passed by both the House and the Senate, the amended American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 will now be sent to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.