Biden’s Federal Stimulus: RI Receives Approximately $3 Billion in Aid — We Have The Numbers
GoLocalProv News Team
Biden’s Federal Stimulus: RI Receives Approximately $3 Billion in Aid — We Have The Numbers
The numbers are staggering.
The Biden administration shepherded the legislation through both chambers of Congress in 50 days.
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See RI's Breakdown Below
The White House issued the following statement on Wednesday after the House gave the final approval.
“The House and Senate have passed the American Rescue Plan and President Biden looks forward to signing it into law this week. The Treasury and IRS are working to ensure that we will be able to start getting payments out this month. And the IRS and Bureau of the Fiscal Service are building on lessons learned from previous rounds of payments to increase the number of households that will get electronic payments, which are substantially faster than checks.”
According to the White House:
Here’s an example of what direct payments passed in the American Rescue Plan mean for a typical family of four – with parents making $75,000 a year combined, and with kids in school aged 8 and 5:
Because of the President’s American Rescue Plan, that family of four will soon be getting $5,600 in direct payments, $1,400 for each parent and child.
Because of the expanded Child Tax Credit, they will also get $2,600 more in tax credits than before.
That’s $8,200 more in the pockets of this family as they try to weather this storm – on top of additional money in this bill to reopen schools safely, get shots in arms faster, and help those who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
Congressman Jim Langevin said after the vote, "With today’s final passage of the American Rescue Plan Act, the American people should know that help is on the way. In addition to direct payments of $1,400 for Rhode Islanders, over $2 billion is heading directly to our state and cities and towns to help them mitigate the impacts of the pandemic. Rhode Islanders have waited long enough for relief, and I’m thankful my Democratic colleagues came together to deliver help during this time of great need.”
RI Windfall from Federal Stimulus Program - March 2021
State and Local Assistance:
The stimulus offers $350 billion for state and local governments.
Rhode Island is estimated to receive up to $1.78 billion, including:
$1.124 billion for the state
$113 million for State Capital Projects
$542 million for cities and towns.
Education:
Provides $125 billion for K-12 education and $39 billion for institutions of higher education.
Rhode Island is estimated to receive $420 million for K-12 and $180 million for higher education.
Small Business:
Provides $7.25 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and allows more nonprofits and digital news outlets to participate.
The Rescue Plan will also provide $15 billion for Targeted Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance Program, $25 billion for a Restaurant Revitalization Fund, and $1.25 billion for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program.
Total dollars to Rhode Island will depend in part on applications for funds by RI businesses.
Vaccination Program:
The American Rescue Plan provides $160 billion for a national vaccination campaign and other important efforts, like testing and contact tracing.
The bill includes a fix to the vaccine grant formula which could provide up to $20 million to Rhode Island to make the state whole from previous grant allocations.
A new formula will be used going forward that does not short change small states.
Tax Credits:
The stimulus temporarily makes the Child Tax Credit refundable, increases the credit amount to $3,000 ($3,600 for children under six), and establishes a program for an advanced payment of the CTC.
The bill also strengthens the Earned Income Tax Credit by nearly tripling the credit for some workers, and extending its benefits to workers under 25 without children. The bill makes the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit temporarily refundable and allows the credit to cover half of care costs up to $4,000 for one child and up to $8,000 for two or more children.
In Rhode Island, 48,000 workers without children are estimated to benefit from the EITC expansion, and 185,000 children are estimated to benefit from the CTC expansion.
Direct Payments:
Another round of direct payments worth $1,400 per adult and $1,400 per dependent, including child and non-child dependents. Direct payments phase out for individuals making between $75,000 and $80,000 per year and for couples making between $150,000 and $160,000 per year. 497,590 households in Rhode Island are estimated to be eligible for the third round of direct payments, totaling $1.2 billion.
Unemployment:
Extends emergency unemployment benefits, including the weekly supplement of $300, to September 6, 2021.
Housing:
$40 billion in rental, homeowner, and homelessness assistance, including an estimated $152 million for rental assistance in Rhode Island.
Child Care:
The bill also provides $15 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant program, $24 billion for a child care stabilization grant program, and $1 billion for Head Start.
Rhode Island is estimated to receive $93 million, including $36 million for the Child Care and Development Block Grant and $57 million for Child Care Stabilization Grants. Rhode Island is also estimated to receive $3 million for Head Start.
Substance Use/Mental Health Funding:
The American Rescue Plan included substantial funding for mental health, substance use and behavior health programs. The bill authorizes $1.5 billion for SAMHSA’s Mental Health Block Grants (MHBG) and $1.5 billion for SAMHSA’s Substance Use Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) Block Grants.
According to Senate sources, "Rough, back-of-the-envelope calculations estimate that Rhode Island will receive $3-4 million from the SAPT block grant." That funding will be distributed by the state to programs that offer substance use treatment, education and prevention programs for alcohol, tobacco, opioids and other substances.
Nutrition:
The proposal would extend the 15% SNAP benefit increase through September, increase the value of WIC vouchers for fruits and vegetables to $35 per month for 4 months, extends Pandemic-Electronic Benefit Transfer benefits for the duration of the emergency, and provides $37 million for senior nutrition programs.
Veterans:
Provides $14.5 billion for health services for veterans, $400 million to help veterans get back to work with rapid retraining assistance and housing allowances for unemployed veterans, $272 million to help reduce the backlog of VA claims, and $750 million for State Veterans Homes.
Transportation:
The Providence metro area is estimated to receive $36 million.
Rhode Island is also estimated to receive $399,236 for rural transit and the Providence metro area is estimated to receive $210,810 for paratransit. Rhode Island airports are estimated to receive $16.6 million, including $16.54 million for TF Green, $59,000 for Quonset State, $32,000 for North Central State, and $22,000 for Newport State.
Native American Communities:
Includes $31.2 billion for Native American communities, including $20 billion for tribal governments, $6 billion for the Indian Health Service, $900 million for Bureau of Indian Affairs programs, $1.1 billion for Native education programs, $1.2 billion for HUD Tribal and Native Hawaiian housing programs, and $20 million to mitigate the harm of COVID-19 on Native languages.
It is unclear how much RI tribes will receive.
State By State Estimates:
The below state-by-state estimates were prepared by multiple governmental institutions, including the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and various Senate Committees.
State and Local Fiscal Relief
Enhanced Federal Unemployment Insurance
Expanded Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit
Additional Round of Direct Payments
Education Relief Funding
Emergency Rental Assistance
LIHEAP
FEMA Disaster Relief Fund Estimates
Child Care and CCDBG
Head Start
Transit Relief for Urbanized Areas
Rural Transit
Paratransit
Enhanced and Expanded ACA subsidies, Additional Resources
Extension of ACA Premium Subsidies to UI Recipients
Incentives for Non-Expansion States to Expand Medicaid
Increased FMAP
Increased Coverage
