The House passed a $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill last week aimed to boost the economy and allow the country to begin moving on from the pandemic.
The bill is referred to as the American Rescue Plan, and it will impact a wide variety of people across the country.
This bill will put billions of dollars into COVID testing and contact tracing. They will also use the money to expand the public health workforce to provide quicker and more efficient COVID vaccine distribution.
$400 billion is going towards stimulus checks. Individuals earning $75,000 per year and couples earning $150,000 would still receive the full $1,400-per-person benefit. However, the benefit would disappear for individuals earning more than $80,000 annually and couples earning more than $160,000.
The bill sets aside more than $20 billion in emergency rental assistance and other relief for the homeless, as well as $510 million for the FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter program. This money can be used to help people make their monthly rent bills and help the homeless by giving them a shelter to stay at for a month.
The American Rescue Plan also provides a big boost to the education system. $130 billion is going to elementary schools and high schools to help them reopen. More specifically, the money will go into improving ventilation systems, reducing class sizes, buying personal protective equipment and implementing social distancing.
Colleges will also be getting some much needed relief as there is $40 billion set aside for colleges to help their students. The money is expected to be used in financial aid grants to help students that are struggling to pay rent, buy food, and other basic necessities.
There is even more education funding, as there is $1.25 billion set aside for summer enrichment programs, $1.25 billion for after-school programs, and $3 billion for educational technology. This bill put a lot of emphasis on helping get the school system back to normal.
DMACC President Robert Denson spoke very highly of the American Rescue Plan bill. “I think it absolutely is a plus for the education system. There are still rules being released to the institutions, so we are still weighing our options at the moment,” said Denson.
Denson has big plans on what DMACC will do with the money once all the information is out. Denson said, “We want to improve on all of the heating and ventilation systems throughout our campuses. We have already put in new filter systems in most of our buildings, and we have hired extra custodial workers to keep DMACC as safe and healthy as possible.”
DMACC has started working on something called hybrid classrooms, and Denson believes it could be the future. “We are piloting a new idea at our Urban Campus where part of the class can be in person and a part of the class can be virtual. We feel that students should have options available to them, so we are seeing how hybrid classrooms could work for us,” Denson said.
Denson also feels that the third round of COVID relief is the most beneficial for students. “The care act three has broader rules for the money students can receive, so a lot of our students will be receiving grants and other payments to help with whatever they might need. Our students should feel as comfortable as possible, especially after how the past year has went,” said Denson.
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