![]() The American Rescue Plan Act also addresses various areas not included in the CARES Act. The American Rescue Plan Act will also spend over $170 billion on education, which received only a small amount of direct funds through the CARES Act. It will funnel $350 billion to support state and local governments, over twice the CARES Act’s $150 billion, despite the fact that state and local tax revenue fell less than was originally expected. But it also focuses on several areas that got less attention from the CARES Act. The American Rescue Plan Act also prioritizes direct payments and unemployment assistance, even providing for larger stimulus checks - $1,400 compared to the $1,200 granted to qualifying people by the CARES Act. Over 60% of the CARES Act funding supported four major focuses: $500 billion to support businesses through the Treasury, $350 billion to support small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program and other initiatives, $300 billion for stimulus checks, and $250 billion for unemployment insurance. This new bill focuses on different areas of spending than the CARES Act. What’s in the original $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act? The American Rescue Plan Act is the third major pandemic stimulus package, following the $2.2 trillion CARES act passed in March of last year and the $900 billion plan signed into law in December. This article explores the spending breakdown in the original $1.9 trillion version of the bill as passed by the House on February 27, 2021, though this total cost estimate and specific components may change as estimates are revised to incorporate amendments to the bill, such as the elimination of the minimum wage provision. The CBO has not yet released revised cost estimates for the Senate version of the bill, which eliminated the minimum wage provision, cut spending on stimulus checks, unemployment benefits, and several other items while leaving other large expenditures intact, such as assistance to state and local governments. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan agency dedicated to estimating costs for legislation, stated that the version of the bill originally passed in the House at the end of February would cost $1.2 trillion in fiscal year 2021 and a total of $1.9 trillion over the next 10 years. While not all provisions made it through the Senate-the minimum wage amendment was removed and certain spending amounts were slightly reduced-many of the provisions in the original House bill remain. The bill as originally passed by the House on Februcontained a host of relief packages to address COVID-19's impact on “the economy, public health, state and local governments, individuals, and businesses.” The original bill from the end of February also included several provisions less directly tied to the pandemic, such as raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 and increased Medicaid coverage. H.R.1319, also known as the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, narrowly passed the Senate with an amendment on March 6 and was approved by the House on March 10.
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