December 24th, 2021

To the Good People of New York’s 9th Congressional District,

I hope this edition of Yvette's Gazette finds you well on this Christmas Eve! Before we get into the details of today's newsletter, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas from the Clarke family to yours! I hope you have a blessed, fulfilling, and, above all else, safe day with those who mean the most to you. 

I know this year brought struggles and challenges for far too many people both within our community and in this country. As this Earth readies to complete another cycle around the Sun, let us remember all we have overcome. More, let us understand all the work that remains. I promise you I certainly have not.

In the meantime, thank you for tuning in to hear from me on the work I have done in Congress. Always remember, I cannot do it alone. Through the support of passionate individuals such as yourself, we bring tangible, meaningful change to our district. 

To reach out to my office, send us an email at clarke.house.gov/contact/email/. If you’d like to call, you can reach my D.C. office at 202-225-6231 or my Brooklyn office at 718-287-1142. Remember to encourage your neighbors to sign up for this newsletter at clarke.house.gov/contact/newsletter/. 

If you’d like daily updates on my work in Congress, visit my website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages. I wish you well, and I look forward to my next opportunity to get in touch with you. And, once again, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Regards,
Yvette D. Clarke
Member of Congress

Student Loan Deferment Extension

The Biden Administration recently announced that its deferment period on student loan repayments has been extended to May 1st, 2022, meaning all federal student loans will not need to be repaid until that date. To hear more from the president on this, please click here.

Upcoming NYC Parks Career Fair

Child Tax Credit Update

On Monday, Nov. 1, the IRS launched a new feature allowing any family receiving monthly Child Tax Credit payments to update their income using the Child Tax Credit Update Portal (CTC UP), found exclusively on IRS.gov. The IRS has created a special Advance Child Tax Credit 2021 page designed to provide the most up-to-date information about the credit and the advance payments, which you can find here.

Relief for Landlords

Governor Hochul recently announced that New York's landlords can now apply for unpaid rent relief through newly available $125 million in state funding. With priority being given to landlords owning small-to-medium-sized properties, this funding could cover up to 12 months of past-due rent. To learn more on this relief opportunity, please click here.

Excelsior Pass Plus App

New York's recently launched Excelsior Pass Plus app contains a secure, digital record of your COVID-19 vaccination history. With information such as vaccine type, site, and date of vaccination, the app provides New Yorkers with the an easy to use means of accessing their records whenever needed. Learn more about the Excelsior Pass Plus and Excelsior Pass here.

New York's Emergency Rental Assistance Program
New York State's Emergency Rental Assistance Program is now open to applicants. For low and moderate-income households facing instability with their housing, this program will provide invaluable aid in the form of rental arrears, temporary rental assistance and utility arrears assistance. For more information, and to apply, click here. 

Getting Vaccinated

To overcome the COVID-19 virus once and for all, it will take as many of us as possible to do our part and get vaccinated. If you haven’t received your COVID-19 vaccine but are interested in doing so, and New Yorkers ages 12 years and older can receive their vaccine at select sites across our city found here. If you’d like to make an appointment to get vaccinated, please click here to find a location that best suits you. For New Yorkers who are ages 75 and older, an in-home vaccination appointment can be made here, or by calling 1-877-VAX-4-NYC. We are so close to the finish line; let’s cross it together!

Co-Sponsored Legislation: The past two weeks, I lent my support and commitment to the following bills:

H.R. 6261
This bill, the African American History Act, invests $10 million over 5 years to support African American history education programs that will be available for students, parents, and teachers. Far too often in our nation's history and increasingly today, African American history has been disregarded and discarded in American classrooms. Consequently, our students grow up unaware of a history so thoroughly entwined with our country's. This bill is the start of the necessary work needed to overcome that injustice.

H.R. 6268
This legislation establishes an Interagency Task Force intended to investigate the heinous conditions too many Black women and girls experience throughout their lives in every setting, from the boardroom to the doctor's office, is a necessary pathway to protecting future generations from the ceaseless struggles faced by current and past generations. Despite our leadership in every liberation movement throughout this nation’s history, Black women and girls of America continue to be brutalized and marginalized by a governing system sworn to protect us. For centuries, our health has been disregarded, our safety has been ignored, and our dreams have been discarded. This Task Force reflects a change in direction and a critical step towards bringing a universal understanding of the situation Black women and girls still live under. I look forward to its inception following the passage of this important and timely legislation

We are profoundly grateful and relieved to learn that the final 12 hostages held in Haiti, who were abducted more than two months ago, were safely found yesterday. With their release, all 17 of the missionaries representing Christian Aid Ministries are able to return to their homes. These individuals, five of whom are children, ventured into Haiti for a noble cause: helping people in need. We wish them well as they recover from the trauma of the past two months, and we thank them for their dedication. Though this terrible chapter has concluded, the tragic conditions that have struck Haiti throughout the past year and enabled lawlessness of this degree persist. U.S. policy concerning Haiti must be rooted in building upon a partnership that will continue to promote democracy, human rights, and security throughout the nation. It is our hope and intention that efforts to support a Haitian-led democratic government’s stabilization and reemergence take priority for this administration. To prevent further tragedies, it is paramount we reimagine our approach and policies to supporting our Haitian neighbors.

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