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Friend, On Sunday evening, the President signed the bipartisan COVID-19 relief bill into law. As you know, this is a huge triumph for bipartisan lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Without the work of the Problem Solvers Caucus and their Senate allies, leadership may not have come back to the negotiating table to get this deal across the finish line. We've broken down what is in the $900 billion package below. After you have the chance read about all the elements included in the bill, please consider sharing with your friends! Click here to share on Facebook or simply forward this email. Despite this huge success, we are already seeing a lot of misinformation about this bill so we also want to share an important piece of context. To avoid an imminent government shutdown, members had to vote on a single mega bill that included the COVID-19 relief measures (approximately $900 billion) alongside all the appropriations that fund the government for the next nine months of the fiscal year (approximately $1.4 trillion). These appropriations fund almost everything the federal government does including spending on transportation, education, the immigration system, health care as well as foreign aid (which accounts for well under 1% of the entire federal budget) This is certainly not the most efficient way to spend taxpayer money and it was a necessitated by Congress once again procrastinating on annual appropriations bills that were supposed to be passed months ago. But we’re in a crisis, and frankly, the only choice before members of Congress was to vote for or against a bill that combined annual funding for government along with desperately needed COVID-19 relief measures, like direct relief payments to individuals, expanded unemployment insurance and more funds for the critical Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses, rental assistance to prevent evictions, protective equipment for hospitals, schools and for COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Ultimately, we at No Labels believe voting yes for this bill was unquestionably the right choice and we’re very thankful that our bipartisan House and Senate allies were able to pull this deal together and to provide a lifeline to millions of families and to communities to sustain them through this difficult pandemic winter ahead. Don't forget to share this information with friends! |
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