Gridlock on aid bill broken
Connecticut Democrats say assistance is vital for schools and municipalities getting back on track
The COVID-19 relief bill awaiting a U.S. Senate vote would bring $2.75 billion to state government in Connecticut, along with additional funds for education, vaccination distribution and municipal aid.
Connecticut officials, from U.S. senators and representatives to the governor to municipal leaders, said the assistance is crucial for rebuilding the state after a year of pandemic turmoil.
“This bill, called the ‘rescue bill,’ that’s the right term,” said Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling at a Friday video conference of Democratic elected leaders organized by U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th. “Because we desperately need to be rescued.”
President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Bill was narrowly approved last week by the U.S. House of Representatives, and is now under debate in the U.S. Senate.
The bill proposed up to $1,400 in stimulus checks to individuals and additional support for everything from education to social services to rent relief.
“It’s a big number but these are unprecedented times,” said Gov. Ned Lamont. “Weknowthat our [coronavirus] numbers are getting better, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. ... But we’re still going to be working through the long-term effects of this COVID crisis for not months but probably years.”
Himes noted that, because the bill is still under debate in the Senate, some portions of it will likely change.
“There will be some changes to the bill so this is not gospel, but at the end of the day it’ll end up looking a lot like this,” Himes said.
Direct aid to states and municipalities
The relief bill includes about $350 billion in aid to state governments and local governments.
Himes said about $200 billion of that would go directly to states, with Connecticut receiving about $2.75 billion.
The bill also contains a total of about $130 billion to be divided among city and county governments. Because Connecticut doesn’t have county governments, all of that funding will go to municipalities.
Rilling, the Norwalk mayor, said the funding would be “a huge help” to Connecticut’s towns and cities.
“Most visible government services come from the local level, the things that people see on a daily basis that they need and that they count on,” Rilling said. “In order for the state to flourish, our local municipalities need to flourish as well.”
Rilling said the pandemic has brought unexpected costs to the city of Norwalk, in the form of testing site setup, quarantine measures for staff and remote work. At the same time, revenue has dropped for the city, Rilling said, as more residents are out of work and struggling to pay taxes. The city also isn’t seeing revenue from summer camps and beach use.
“Local communities, not only in Connecticut but all around the country, have been significantly impacted by this pandemic,” Rilling said.
Trumbull First Selectman Vicki Tesoro also pointed to the importance of local governments, which run everything from the sewer systems to libraries and senior centers to police and fire departments.
“That’s why it is so critical, because it affects everyone’s lives everyday,” Tesoro said.
Education
The bill also includes about $130 billion in K-12 education funding for states.
Some of that funding will go toward basic but necessary projects such as updating school buildings’ ventilation systems.
But Lamont said Friday that he wants to see educators think outside the box.
“Yes its for ventilation, it’s for COVID-related expenses, but it’s also to make up for a year, that we want to make sure was not a lost year for these kids,” Lamont said. “So I’d urge you to take the money that we’re getting from the federal government and use it in the broadest, most creative way.”
He encouraged educators to fund summer programming that could help students catch up and make sure that children aren’t falling through the cracks, with a particular focus on social and emotional learning.
On Friday afternoon, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy tweeted that the bill will alsoi require states to use some of their education funding for the type of summer programming that Lamont mentioned.
Lamont also noted on Friday that the relief bill includes funding to expand access to daycare and other childcare programs, which would allow parents to get back to work.
Vaccination
While the federal government has supplied COVID-19 vaccine doses, some of Connecticut’s hospitals and community health centers have been paying for the cost of setting up and staffing vaccine clinics.
With funding included in the relief bill, those costs will be reimbursed.
“Even if a health center needs to front money forward for the vaccination effort, it should be reimbursable,” Himes said.
The relief bill includes funding to make sure that those efforts continue. The bill also includes federal funding for continued research into vaccines and the emerging COVID-19 variants.
Stimulus checks
Under the relief bill, individuals will receive a $1,400 stimulus check, in addition to the $600 and $1,200 checks that have already been distributed since the pandemic began.
To qualify for the full stimulus check, individuals must make less than $75,000 and couples must make less than $150,000.
The stimulus checks will then taper off for individuals making $75,000 to $80,000, and for couples making $150,000 to $160,000. Individuals or couples making above those top limits will not receive stimulus checks. The one exception is single parents, who can earn up to $120,000 and still qualify for a check.
In Connecticut, which has a high median income, about 200,000 fewer adults would qualify for stimulus checks, compared with an earlier, less restrictive version of the measure.
Unemployment assistance
The Senate on Friday was debating the unemployment supplement in the federal relief bill. The U.S. House had passed a measure to grant $400 per week to those whoare unemployed, but the Senate was considering dropping that number back down to $300 per week, which is the same as the current supplement.
The current $300 per week supplement is set to expire on March 14, which puts pressure on the Senate to resolve the debate quickly.
In Connecticut, the state Department of Labor reported in late January that unemployment had dropped to 7.5%. The state’s unemployment figures hit about 10% in June, although officials say that figure is incorrect because of pandemic-related data gathering issues. The actual figure is estimated to be closer to 16% to 17%.
Biden’s relief bill originally included a measure to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 per hour, over the course of the next few years, but that was been removed from the package after a procedural objection was raised in the Senate.