Cortez Masto Secures Critical Nevada Priorities in Senate-Passed COVID Relief Bill

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) released the following statement after passing the American Rescue Plan to provide Nevadans with vital coronavirus relief. Cortez Masto has been a leader in negotiations, allowing her to secure a number of priorities for Nevada, including funding for workers' health care coverage and $750 million in emergency relief for the tourism industry. With Cortez Masto's support, the comprehensive package will help deliver stimulus checks for struggling families, fund vaccination efforts, extend unemployment insurance for individuals who remain furloughed or out of work, cut child poverty in half by expanding vital tax credits, and provide the resources necessary to safely and quickly reopen schools.

'My priority is beating this virus, safely reopening our schools, and rebuilding our economy. Nevadans have endured an extremely challenging year, and this bill responds to their needs by delivering emergency assistance to working families, providing relief to our hospitality and tourism industry and its workers, and supplying additional aid for our state's frontline workers and small businesses.

'This bill includes a critical measure I worked to secure that covers 100% of COBRA benefits and protects health care access for tens of thousands of Nevada workers. It will also serve as a lifeline to our state and to local governments thanks in large part to the funding I negotiated for states like Nevada that are hurting due to a devastated travel and tourism industry. There is no silver bullet for addressing a crisis as severe as the COVID-19 pandemic, but this bill will make a real difference to Nevada's working families and to our state's economy. I will continue to lead efforts in the Senate to bring Nevada the help it deserves.'

Background:

Senator Cortez Masto secured the following provisions in the Senate version of the American Rescue Plan:

• 100% subsidy for COBRA continuation coverage premiums for unemployed or furloughed workers;
• $750 million in funding for the Economic Development Administration to help states like Nevada that have been impacted by job and revenue loss in the tourism and travel industries;
• An extension and expansion of the Employee Retention Tax Credit to allow more hardest-hit businesses to access the credit, including Nevada's hospitality and tourism businesses;
• $1 billion in funding to help modernize unemployment insurance systems across the country and speed up the delivery of benefits to those in need;
• A provision to ensure that ambulance organizations and first responders working to keep low-risk Medicare patients out of the hospital during the coronavirus pandemic are properly paid for their efforts.

The American Rescue Plan includes:

• $1,400 per-person checks to struggling Americans across the country;
• $20 billion for a national vaccination program and $50 billion for a massive expansion of testing;
• $170 billion to help K-12 schools and institutions of higher education continue to re-open safely;
• Funding for 100,000 new public health workers and health care strike teams to help long-term care facilities;
• Extensions to existing COVID relief programs that offer supplemental unemployment benefits and expanded paid leave for workers affected by COVID-19;
• $30 billion for sufficient supplies and PPE for frontline workers;
• 100% federal reimbursement for FEMA resources, including deployment of the National Guard;
• $30 billion in rental and critical utilities assistance;
• An expansion of ACA tax credits and expanded mental health services;
• $13 billion for nutrition programs and $5 billion for Americans experiencing homelessness;
• A permanent increase of $130 million per year for child care assistance and an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, which will lift millions of families out of poverty and cut child poverty in half;
• $25 billion in grants to help small restaurants keep their doors open;
• $10 billion to reauthorize the State Small Business Credit Initiative, which provides flexible, affordable capital to small businesses across the country;
• And $350 billion in direct support for state and local governments whose budgets have been impacted by the pandemic.

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