Dear John,

Our local governments are the backbone of our communities. They're made up of firefighters, police officers, emergency first responders, garbage collectors, street cleaners and more. During the pandemic, we have relied on these frontline workers more than ever to keep us safe and protect our neighborhoods. But their jobs have only gotten more difficult this past year as we continue to address the fallout of the crisis.

This week I was proud to announce $330 million for the counties and cities of Northeastern Pennsylvania from the American Rescue Plan that I helped pass in March. This money will go toward keeping public employees on payroll and maintaining essential public services we all rely on.

But that's not all...

The American Rescue Plan is delivering $58 million for our local colleges, universities and students. This funding will help them recover from the financial hardships brought on by the pandemic, and help them keep their doors open to continue serving our community. It also gets relief in students' hands: at least half of the funding each institution receives is required to go directly to students that are facing hunger, homelessness or other hardships. 

Relief for frontline public workers, colleges and students. John, these are the latest examples of the American Rescue Plan at work in our communities. I'm looking forward to working with our local leaders to ensure these federal investments improve the lives of Northeastern Pennsylvanians of all ages for years to come.

Watch what I had to say about it this week in Congress:

All children deserve to grow up in a safe, loving environment. But throughout this pandemic, a lot of families have struggled to pay bills and put food on table. We need to make sure these families and these kids have the chance to get back on track.

That's why I helped pass an expansion of the Child Tax Credit through the American Rescue Plan. The expansion means eligible families could receive advance monthly payments of up to $300 per child each month for the rest of this year. In our area, this benefit could reach 126,100 children. 

To receive this benefit, families need to act now. The way to claim it and start receiving advance monthly payments as soon as this summer is by filing your taxes by the deadline on Monday, May 17  -- even if you don't normally file.

Earlier this week, I got together with one of my Pennsylvania Congressional colleagues and a local tax expert on Facebook Live to get the word out. You can watch the discussion below, but here's the takeaway: the best way for you to receive your money sooner, rather than later, is by filing a tax return. You can file online for free using the IRS Free File Tool. Tax forms can also be found at your local post office or library.

Watch the conversation:

No matter where you work, all employees deserve to be paid fairly for their work. Employees at Tobyhanna Army Depot are valued workers who help make our military the best and most innovative in the world, but the federal pay system is outdated and unfair.

Under the current system, salaried workers have a pay scale reflecting current metropolitan markets, but the pay scale for hourly workers is still based on 1950s era military installation placements. This has led to a significant gap between the pay of salaried and hourly workers. 

I re-introduced the Locality Pay Equity Act with Senator Bob Casey this week to close this gap and apply the pay boundaries for salaried employees to hourly employees. This would simply raise the wages of hourly employees so that they receive equal pay with their salaried co-workers. We've been fighting this battle for a while, as some of you know, but I'm not giving up. I passed it through the House last year for the first time ever, but it got stuck in the Senate. Our work continues this Congress.

Yesterday marked a major turning point in our fight against COVID-19 when the CDC announced that fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or staying six feet apart outdoors and indoors, with a few exceptions.

We got here because of the incredible work of our scientific community that produced safe and effective vaccines in record time, American Rescue Plan support to get shots in arms more quickly, and all of the American people who have rolled up their sleeves so far to get vaccinated. 

Our fight is not over yet, though. Millions of people still need to be fully vaccinated, but let's keep the progress going. All Pennsylvanians over the age of 16 are eligible, and children ages 12-15 are eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine. Visit Vaccines.gov to make an appointment near you.

Be safe and well,