December 22, 2020

House Passes COVID-Relief and Spending Package, Includes Several Cárdenas Priorities

WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, Congress passed a $1.4 trillion spending bill and a $908 billion COVID-relief bill. The bipartisan omnibus spending package included several funding priorities spearheaded by Congressman Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) to help Valley families, Californians, and vulnerable Americans. The bill also included authorization for the development of the Nation Museum of the American Latino, an effort that was led by House Representatives Cárdenas, Serrano, and Hurd.

“Yesterday, Congress passed a nearly $2.5 trillion spending and relief package, led by House Democrats, to fund critical government programs and help working families,” said Congressman Cárdenas. “As millions of Americans struggle to make ends meet because of the economic hardships and health risks brought upon by the pandemic, the money included in this bill will help those who desperately need it. I’m proud that several of my bills and priorities to help working Americans were included in the final passage. I’ll never stop fighting for Valley families.”

 

Included in the package are several priorities pushed by Congressman Cárdenas:

HEALTHCARE

  • (H.R.4821) Covering our FAS Allies Act - Restores Medicaid eligibility for citizens of the Freely Associated States, sometimes referred to as Compacts of Free Association (COFA) migrants, who are legally residing in the United States. [Led by Cárdenas]

 

  • (H.R.3935) Protecting Patients Transportation to Care Act – Requires state Medicaid programs to cover non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) to ensure that beneficiaries who lack access to regular transportation are able to travel to their medical appointments. [Led by Cárdenas]

 

  • (H.R. 8141) Strengthening Mental Health Supports for BIPOC Communities Act - partially included in appropriations report language (Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2021). Directs SAMHSA to require that State Mental Health Agencies report on services provided to individuals from racial/ethnic minorities and on outreach to and the hiring of racial/ethnic minority providers of mental health services. [Led by Cárdenas]

 

  • Targeted COVID funding for communities of color. [Led by Cárdenas]
    • $22.4 billion in testing, contact tracing, surveillance, containment, and mitigation, with a targeted investment of no less than $2.5 billion for expanding access to testing and contact tracing in high-risk and underserved populations, including for communities of color and rural areas, and $790 million for the Indian Health Service to support Tribes. 
    • Dedicates over $19 billion in the nation’s supply of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics, including the manufacture, production, and purchase of vaccines, therapeutics, and ancillary supplies. 
    • Supplies $8.75 billion for vaccine distribution, administration, planning, preparation, promotion, monitoring, and tracking, with a targeted investment of $300 million for high-risk and underserved populations, including for communities of color and rural areas, and $210 million for the Indian Health Service to distribute vaccines directly to Tribes. 
    • Supports $4.25 billion in investments for additional mental health and substance use disorder services and support through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 
    • Provides long-term extensions of critical public health programs, including: Community Health Centers, the National Health Service Corps, Teaching Health Centers, and Special Diabetes Programs.
    • Expands, enhances, and improves public health data systems at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and authorizes grants to state, local, Tribal, or territorial public health departments for the modernization of public health data systems.

 

 

FOOD AND NUTRITION

  • Full funding for WIC, child nutrition programs and SNAP
  • WIC -This includes $6 billion for WIC.
  • Child Nutrition Programs - $25.1 billion in funding for child nutrition programs which will provide free or reduced-price school lunches and snacks for children who qualify for the program.
  • Including $552 million for the Summer Food Service Program to ensure low-income children continue to receive nutritious meals when school is not in session. Also, provides $42 million for the Summer EBT program, $30 million for Scholl kitchen equipment grants and $21 million for the WIC farmers market nutrition program. 
  • SNAP - $114 billion in mandatory spending for SNAP. 

 

 

VETERANS

  • Appropriations in General: $10 Billion for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. 
  • Appropriations in General: $40 Million for HUD/VA supportive housing for homeless veterans. 

 

SMALL BUSINESS & ECONOMY

  • Refundable tax credits in the amount of $600 per eligible family member. The credit is $600 per taxpayer ($1,200 for married filing jointly), in addition to $600 per qualifying child.
  • Requires the SBA to include a voluntary demographic information section on the loan origination application for initial PPP loans and second draw PPP loans. All PPP loan applications after enactment must include this section. [Led by Cárdenas]

 

LATINO MUSEUM [Led by Cárdenas]

  • Establishing a National Museum of the American Latino.
  • $6 Million for the Smithsonian Latino Center.

 

JUSTICE

  • $100 million for Second Chance Act programs. [Led by Cárdenas]
  • Provides funding increases to help ensure civil rights and reform police practices throughout the country.  
  • $13 million for the Emmet Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Authorization Act of which $5 million within the Civil Rights Division and an additional $2 million within State and local law enforcements assistance. [Led by Cárdenas] 
  • Executive Office for Immigration Review - $734 million, an increase of $61 million above FY2020 including $22.5 million for the Legal Orientation Program, an increase of $4.5 million above FY2020.
  • $386 million for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program. [Led by Cárdenas]
  • $513.5 million for Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) programs.

 

 ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

  • Environmental Protection - $9.24 billion, a $180 increase, for the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure clean air and water and to hold polluters accountable.
  • Reducing Climate Pollution - Directs the EPA to phase down the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a highly potent greenhouse gas, by 85 percent over 15 years.  This will position the U.S. to lead the world in avoiding up to 0.5 degree Celsius of warming.
  • Carbon Capture – Invests in carbon capture, utilization, and storage RDD&CA, including carbon removal to reduce net emissions from all sectors of the economy as quickly as possible for limiting global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius.
  • Clean Energy - Supports the transition to a low-carbon economy by investing in clean energy, distributed energy sources, energy storage systems, and microgrids – all of which build resilience and are crucial to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Efficiency - $2.86 billion for DOE Energy Efficient and Renewable Energy. 

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