As the coronavirus death toll in the United States nears 400,000 lives lost, as nearly 250,000 people become infected with the virus every day, as the economic recovery sputters and millions remain out of work, and as the distribution of the vaccine flounders, America is in desperate need of decisive leadership.
Enter President-elect Biden and the American Rescue Plan. Following the reveal of a multifaceted rescue plan designed to combat the deepening coronavirus crisis last night — one that dramatically scales up federal support for vaccine distribution, economic relief for struggling American families, and designates resources to get America’s children back to school — business groups, policy experts, and economists are offering praise to the incoming administration for its strategic plans to fight the pandemic.
- The US Chamber Of Commerce: “We Applaud The President-Elect’s Focus On Vaccinations And On Economic Sectors And Families That Continue To Suffer As The Pandemic Rages On.” The US Chamber of Commerce said in a statement: “The U.S. Chamber of Commerce welcomes the introduction of President-elect Biden’s American Rescue Plan. Specifically, we applaud the President-elect’s focus on vaccinations and on economic sectors and families that continue to suffer as the pandemic rages on. We must defeat COVID before we can restore our economy and that requires turbocharging our vaccination efforts. We look forward to working with the new administration and Congress on the details and in ensuring that any additional economic assistance is timely, targeted, and temporary.” [US Chamber of Commerce, 1/14/21]
- Business Roundtable: “Business Roundtable Welcomes The… ‘American Rescue Plan’ And Looks Forward To Working With The New Administration To Defeat Covid-19 And Restore Jobs And Economic Growth.” Business Roundtable, a group of CEOs of major US companies, issued a statement on the rescue plan: “Business Roundtable welcomes the announcement of President-elect Biden’s ‘American Rescue Plan’ and looks forward to working with the new Administration to defeat COVID-19 and restore jobs and economic growth. Business leaders applaud the incoming Administration on developing a strong national plan to scale up vaccination and testing, to protect vulnerable populations from infection, to improve vaccine surveillance and to address health disparities. Business Roundtable welcomes especially the new Administration’s focus on additional support for small businesses and additional support to allow schools to safely reopen, and we share their concern about finding ways to help individuals and families who continue to struggle during this time.” [Business Roundtable, 1/15/21]
- Economist KC Conway: “I Think [The American Rescue Plan’s] A Good Connecting Of The Dots And I’m A Fiscal Conservative Kind Of Guy.” “‘I don’t view this as a big kind of giveaway. The $600, even as the outgoing president mentioned, he was not a fan of the bill that was passed by the House and the Senate. It didn’t go far enough,’ Conway said. Along with the additional $1,400 stimulus checks, Conway said the proposal also will help families in other ways, such as increasing the child tax credit to $3,000 per child and up to $3,600 for each child under the age of six. ‘I think it’s a good connecting of the dots and I’m a fiscal conservative kind of guy,’ Conway said. ‘You’ve got to be able to give families a helping hand here.’” [WBS-TV, 1/14/21]
- Bloomberg Economist Andrew Husby: Biden’s Plan Will Have “High Bang For The Buck.” Economist Andrew Husby said: “Parts of President-elect Biden’s plan target constraints to faster economic recovery, including funding for vaccine rollout, testing and treatments, areas likely to have high bang for the buck. Extending unemployment benefits past the mid-March cutoff will also ease burdens on the most vulnerable parts of the population.” [Bloomberg, 1/14/21]
- National Retail Federation CEO Matthew Shay: “We Support… Direct Payments To Families And Individuals Whose Lives Have Been Disrupted.” “Biden’s plan also includes $1,400 in direct payments to individuals, rounding out payments to $2,000 when paired with the $600 passed in the December relief package. The retail industry supported that provision as a way to grow the economy. ‘We support providing critical government assistance in the form of direct payments to families and individuals whose lives have been disrupted, further aid for small businesses across the country, and tools to keep businesses open and the economy growing,’ National Retail Federation CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement.” [The Hill, 1/14/21]
- Child Care Advocacy Group First Five Years Fund Expressed Gratitude For The Biden Plan’s Investment In Relief For Child Care Providers. “The First Five Years Fund (FFYF), which advocates for the child care industry, was grateful that Biden’s plan included $40 billion in relief for child care providers. The plan included a $25 billion child care stabilization fund, among other provisions. ‘Given the unsustainable financial circumstances most child care providers and families are in as a result of the ongoing pandemic, there can be no doubt that further relief is needed to ensure these essential businesses can afford to continue operating and parents can afford care,’ FFYF executive director Sarah Rittling said.” [The Hill, 1/14/21]
- The American Federation Of Teachers Praised The Rescue Package For Providing Funding For Testing, Vaccinations, And Safe Reopening. “The AFT will join them to distribute the vaccine, scale testing, expand healthcare, maintain public services and safely reopen school buildings within the first 100 days. These actions will give families and communities the chance to thrive after so many months, and years, of pain—and we can’t wait to get started.” [AFT, 1/14/21]
- The Independent Restaurant Coalition Applauded The ‘American Rescue Plan’ For Providing Hope To The Restaurant Industry. “Unsustainable debt, cold weather, and a surging pandemic have left many restaurants and bars out of options this winter. We are optimistic the new administration and Congress can quickly work together to protect local restaurants and bars from permanently closing with a new stimulus package.” [IRC, 1/14/21]
- Columbia University’s Center On Poverty And Social Policy: “President-Elect Biden’s Economic Relief Proposal Has The Potential To Cut Child Poverty In Half.” In a fact sheet, the Columbia University Center on Poverty and Social Policy writes: “This fact sheet provides a preliminary projection of the poverty reduction effect of a set of policy elements within President-Elect Biden’s proposal for economic relief amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic… We find that a relief package containing enhanced Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, unemployment benefits, family tax credits, and direct cash payments could cut child poverty in half in 2021.” [Columbia University, Center on Poverty and Social Policy, 1/14/21]