Friends,

President Biden just signed  the American Rescue Plan—our bold, sweeping, and seriously impactful COVID relief package—into law. Today, I wanted to break down exactly what its passage means for your family.

Here’s what you need to know:

$1,400 stimulus checks

Roughly 90% of American households will be eligible for this third round of stimulus checks. Vox has a helpful breakdown of who qualifies, and what you can expect to receive.

Parents will receive an additional $1,400 check for each dependent claimed on their tax returns. And this is important: Unlike the two previous rounds of stimulus checks, all dependents (including college students and some people with disabilities, not just people under the age of 17) will be eligible.

Heads up: The IRS will use the most recent tax return you have to see if you’re eligible for this round of stimulus checks. So if you lost your job, lost income, or had a child in 2020, file your taxes now to ensure you’re included.

Expanded Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit

The American Rescue Plan will cut child poverty in half. That’s a game-changer, so it bears repeating: This package will help approximately 10 million American children living in poverty. That’s thanks in large part to the expanded Child Tax Credit included in this package.

Child Tax Credit (CTC): Couples filing jointly with combined incomes of $150,000 or less, and individuals with incomes of up to $75,000, are eligible for an annual payment of $3,600 for children under 6 and $3,000 for children aged 6-17. 

If your income exceeds the limits listed above, you will still be eligible for $2,000 for children under the age of 17. This CTC expansion alone helps 3.5 million children in New York State under age 18—that’s 87% of New York’s children.

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC): This year, the American Rescue Plan expands the EITC for childless workers (or those who are not raising children in their home). In fact, it nearly triples the EITC to about $1,500. Already a highly successful anti-poverty program, the expanded EITC will reach approximately 17 million additional adults previously excluded from the program. 

Additional funding for nutrition assistance programs

Our country’s ongoing hunger crisis has been made even worse by the pandemic. The American Rescue Plan will help the millions of Americans (and as many as one in four children) struggling to feed themselves and their families.

Congress has already increased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by 15%—the ARP extends this emergency assistance through September 30, 2021.

Women and children will receive expanded vouchers to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables through the Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC). 

The package also includes an additional $1 billion in additional nutrition assistance for Puerto Rico.

Stay tuned: Over the coming weeks, I’ll continue to dig into the American Rescue Plan and how it will provide relief to American families, tackle this pandemic and help our economy recover. 

Help is on the way,
Kirsten



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