New Democrat Coalition Urges House Leadership to Act on COVID-19 Economic Stimulus Priorities
NDC Leadership Members Outline Key Priorities for Economic Stimulus Package
Today, the New Democrat Coalition (NDC) sent a letter to President Joe Biden, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer urging action on a slate of bold, innovative policies to help end the pandemic and rebuild robust economic growth and opportunity that works for every American.
The letter reads:
“The NDC proposals have clear alignment with President Biden and Vice President Harris’s American Rescue Plan and would build on the foundation of House Democrats’ core relief and recovery priorities, including robust state and local funding, protections for essential workers, housing and rental assistance, nutritional assistance, and more. As you work to develop the next COVID-19 package, we ask that you consider including the NDC-endorsed proposals.”
The eleven New Dem-led bills have been endorsed by the full Coalition. The proposals include a significant expansion and enhancement of the Child Tax Credit (CTC), automatic stabilizers for enhanced unemployment insurance (UI), investments to spur innovation and create quality jobs, and technology and public health measures. These proposals are organized into three overall categories:
Create More Widely Shared Economic Growth, Opportunity, and Jobs in All Parts of the Country
1. The American Family Act (Reps. Rosa DeLauro & Suzan DelBene with Sens. Michael Bennet & Sherrod Brown)
2. The Build Back Better Act (Rep. Derek Kilmer)
3. The Innovation Centers Acceleration Act (Reps. Joseph Morelle & Terri Sewell with Sen. Chris Coons)
Support Workers, Families, State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Governments, and Businesses
4. The Worker Relief and Security Act (Reps. Don Beyer, Derek Kilmer, and Scott Peters with Sens. Jack Reed & Michael Bennet)
5. The New Business Preservation Act (Rep. Dean Phillips with Sen. Amy Klobuchar)
6. Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Proposal (Rep. David Trone)
End the Pandemic, Equitably Deploy the Vaccine and Testing, Reopen Safely, and Prepare for Future Crises
7. Rapid At-Home Antigen Testing Proposal (Reps. Kim Schrier & Bill Foster)
8. The Coronavirus Vaccine and Therapeutic Development Act (Rep. Annie Kuster)
9. The Vaccine Fairness Act (Rep. Angie Craig)
10. The Health STATISTICS Act (Reps. Scott Peters & Lucy McBath)
11. Technology Modernization Fund Proposal (Rep. Gerry Connolly)
Read the full list of bills, the letter to President Joe Biden, and the letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
January 27, 2021
Sent Electronically
Dear President Biden,
Thank you for your quick action and clear-eyed leadership to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and extend relief to American workers and families. While Congress has already provided American workers, families, schools, communities, health care providers, and communities with significant aid since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing economic emergency, additional aid and stimulus is required to end the pandemic, provide direct support to those in need, ensure a lasting recovery, and prepare for future crises. This unprecedented crisis has called for unprecedented action, and as you have said, the relief provided thus far has been a down payment. Under your leadership, we have an extraordinary opportunity to build on the foundation of our previous efforts, learn from the challenges of this and previous recessions, and build back better.
As the House of Representatives works on the next COVID-19 relief and stimulus package, we would like to share with you the New Democrat Coalition’s endorsed priorities to help end the pandemic and rebuild robust economic growth and opportunity that works for every American. These eleven proposals are organized into three overall categories:
Create More Widely Shared Economic Growth, Opportunity, and Jobs in All Parts of the Country
1. The American Family Act (AFA) to enhance and expand the CTC, and make the CTC fully refundable and paid monthly (Led by Reps. Rosa DeLauro & Suzan DelBene).
2. The Build Back Better Act to provide flexible grants to persistently distressed communities to create quality jobs, connect residents to opportunities, and provide workers with resources to access and retain work (Led by Rep. Derek Kilmer).
3. The Innovation Centers Acceleration Act to launch a national race-to-the-top grant program to establish new American Innovation Centers in regions outside of existing advanced technology hubs (Led by Reps. Joseph Morelle & Terri Sewell).
Support Workers, Families, State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Governments, and Businesses
4. An updated version of the Worker Relief and Security Act (WRSA) to provide for the automatic continuation and adjustment of the emergency pandemic UI provisions for the duration of the national public health emergency and economic crisis (Led by Reps. Don Beyer, Derek Kilmer, and Scott Peters).
5. The New Business Preservation Act to create a new $2 billion program at the Treasury Department that will partner with states to invest in promising new businesses alongside private investors in areas of the country that do not currently attract significant equity investment (Led by Rep. Dean Phillips).
6. Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Proposal to provide $10 billion in funding to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for grants to states, D.C., territories, and tribes (Led by Rep. David Trone).
End the Pandemic, Equitably Deploy the Vaccine and Testing, Reopen Safely, and Prepare for Future Crises
7. Rapid At-Home Antigen Testing Proposal quickly scale-up manufacturing and deployment of inexpensive, frequent, rapid COVID-19 tests at home, school or the workplace (Led by Reps. Kim Schrier & Bill Foster).
8. The Coronavirus Vaccine and Therapeutic Development Act to authorize $20 billion in funding through HHS for vaccine and therapeutic development, research, procurement, and expanded manufacturing capacity. The bill also establishes additional reporting requirements (Led by Rep. Annie Kuster).
9. The Vaccine Fairness Act to require the administration to report weekly on the number of vaccines distributed and administered, federal measures taken to ensure the vaccine reaches high-risk groups, supply chain bottlenecks, and progress on public outreach and education (Led by Rep. Angie Craig).
10. The Health STATISTICS Act to improve COVID-19 research by fixing detrimental inconsistencies in data collection and essential reporting to effectively combat the coronavirus pandemic (Led by Reps. Scott Peters & Lucy McBath).
11. Technology Modernization Fund Proposal to provide $9 billion in funding for the Technology Modernization Fund to improve federal government IT systems to better support activities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, domestically or internationally (Led by Rep. Gerry Connolly).
The NDC proposals have clear alignment with your administration’s American Rescue Plan and would build on the foundation of Congressional Democrats’ core relief and recovery priorities, including robust state and local funding, protections for essential workers, housing and rental assistance, nutritional assistance, and more. As you work to develop the next COVID-19 package, we ask that you consider including the NDC-endorsed proposals.
We look forward to working together to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of our people and communities and to build back better with a vibrant economy that tackles the greatest challenges facing our nation through widely shared economic growth, opportunity, and innovation.
Sincerely,
Signers: Reps. Suzan DelBene, Ami Bera, Sharice Davids, Annie Kuster, Scott Peters, Brad Schneider, Stacey Plaskett, Chrissy Houlahan, Kathy Manning, and Derek Kilmer.
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