MDP WIRE: Help is here.

Help is Here: The American Rescue Plan is Law

Last week, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan, delivering on his campaign promise to get checks in pockets, shots in arms, and finally provide help to the American people. Read below for Massachusetts-specific stats.

Last week, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law, and now help is here for the American people.
- Democrats came together and answered the American people’s call for help.
House and Senate Republicans turned their back on the American people and played games with the relief package families need — and not a single one voted for the bill. This relief package is supported by a bipartisan majority of the public.
- Poll after poll has found that the American Rescue Plan has broad support from the public.
The American Rescue Plan is the most significant and progressive piece of legislation in recent history. The bill will:
- Get money to those who are hurting with $1,400 checks to Americans and extended unemployment insurance.
- Get more shots in arms with a national vaccination program.
- Get children back in school with resources to reopen schools quickly and safely.
Beyond the toplines, the American Rescue Plan is also a monumental bill for Massachusetts. In our Commonwealth, the bill will:
- Get relief checks of up to $1,400 to nearly 4 million residents--78% of all adults in the state.
- Provide over $1.8 billion to K-12 schools so students and educators can return safely to the classroom.
- Get $8.1 billion in fiscal relief to the state and local governments to continue essential services and keep front line workers employed.
- Provide an additional $1,600 of relief per child through the Child Tax Credit, benefiting an estimated 1.1 million children.
- Provide over $1 billion in funding for public transit to maintain full service and keep workers employed.
- Provide additional relief of up to nearly $1,000 through the Earned Income Tax Credit to 294,000 childless workers, including many in frontline jobs.
- Lower marketplace health insurance premiums by %1,011 for a 60-year old couple earning $75,000 per year.
- Provide renters with $362 million in assistance.

Baker’s Mismanaged COVID Response

The Baker-Polito vaccine rollout has been sluggish and inconsistent, with local officials begging for more urgency, guidance, and support as Baker disregards the advice of experts.

The public is taking notice of Baker’s failure to lead during the course of this pandemic.
- A recent poll released yesterday shows that Baker’s favorability has fallen 26% to just above 50%, reflecting recognition of the disastrous vaccine rollout and overall COVID response.
The Baker-Polito administration threw out 20 years of preparation when they cut local boards of health out of the vaccine rollout.
- After the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the anthrax scare in 2001, local boards of health began preparing a mass vaccination plan.
- However, Baker and Polito threw out the infrastructure built by trusted local officials and hired private companies to run mass vaccination sites.
The Baker-Polito administration’s privately-owned mass vaccination sites come with a hefty price tag, costing Massachusetts more than $10 million since January.
- Baker hasn’t been transparent about how these operations are being overseen, even as residents report long lines and delays.
President Biden and Democrats in the legislature pressured Baker to vaccinate educators. However, Baker has no plan to get shots in teachers' arms before they return to the classroom.
- Last week, Governor Baker issued an inflammatory and dishonest statement mischaracterizing teachers efforts to get vaccinated.
- Speaker Ron Mariano said the Baker administration created a supply shortage by forcing school staff back in the classroom unvaccinated.
Even though the American Rescue Plan provides $1 billion in funding for the MBTA, Baker’s still cutting service, laying off transportation workers and leaving essential and frontline workers without transportation.
- Rep. Stephen Lynch blasted Baker for the move, stating that the Massachusetts federal delegation is ‘furious’ with Baker’s decision.
Following his disastrous vaccine rollout, Baker’s moving on with his reopening plan even as experts like Dr. Fauci, Dr. Walensky, and local epidemiologists are urging him to remain cautious.
- CDC Director Dr. Walensky and Dr. Fauci were clear about the risks: “Now is not the time to relax the critical safeguards that we know stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities.”