February 13, 2021
Dear Friends,
While the eyes of the nation were on the powerful impeachment trial unfolding in the Senate this week, my colleagues and I were hard at work moving the pieces into place for a bold new COVID rescue for the American People.
On Thursday, I kept up the pressure in the Energy and Commerce Committee to push for key COVID provisions during this major budget debate.
The legislative package we’re fighting for delivers a decisive and compassionate response that speaks to the critical needs of our workers, families and communities, both during this crisis and as we lay the foundation for America’s economic and personal recovery.
This rescue package would inject some $440 million in direct federal COVID-19 relief into our counties, cities, towns, and villages across New York’s 20th Congressional District to help maintain essential services and staff including teachers, nurses, firefighters, water systems managers and countless others. Under the current plan:
- Public services in Albany County will receive a total of $173,960,989
- Public services in Montgomery County will receive a total of $16,931,078*
- Public services in Rensselaer County will receive a total of $82,699,814*
- Public services in Saratoga County will receive a total of $49,867,173*
- Public services in Schenectady County will receive a total of $117,073,466
*NOTE: totals reflect funding for county & municipal governments within the boundary lines of NY-20
The COVID relief package also includes:
- Vaccines: $7.5 billion for vaccine distribution and support at the CDC to ensure workers on the ground have the resources they need along with $5.2 billion for research, development, manufacturing, production, and purchase of COVID-19 vaccines and ancillary supplies.
- Testing: $46 billion for testing, contact tracing, and mitigation. This includes implementing a national strategy for testing, contact tracing, surveillance, and mitigation and providing technical assistance, guidance, support and grants to states.
- Mental Health: $4 billion to scale up behavioral, mental health and addiction services and treatments.
- Utility Assistance: $5 billion in consumer energy and water assistance for Americans who are struggling to pay their bills, make ends meet, keep the lights on, the heat working and the water running.
- Broadband Access: $7.6 billion for schools and libraries to purchase technology and equipment that students, teachers & faculty need to conduct remote learning and help deliver broadband access for the millions of low-income households.
- Health Disparities: $25.2 billion to address health disparities and protect vulnerable populations by ensuring increased access to COVID-19 testing in medically underserved areas, and equitable distribution of vaccines and supplies.
One major section of this COVID relief package is my bipartisan Medicaid Reentry Act, vital legislation that gives states flexibility to use Medicaid to ensure people leaving jail or prison have access to basic healthcare including mental health, addiction treatment and COVID testing.
Every moment of delay in a COVID response means another life lost, another business shuttered, another family that slips into poverty.
This week, we paved the way for landmark legislation that meets the size and scope of this crisis. We need to move this rescue package forward now and show the American people know that help is indeed on the way.
As always, thank you for reading.
Your friend,
p.s. As we celebrate Black History Month this month, consider the countless Black scientists, doctors and health care workers who have brought pioneering achievements in medicine and the many others who are fighting to beat this pandemic for all of us. For example, Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett is a viral immunologist at the National Institutes of Health and one of the leading scientists who worked to develop the Moderna COVID vaccine!
We must do all we can to ensure Dr. Corbett’s pioneering work, and the work of countless other scientists and doctors is not wasted. We must stay focused on equitable vaccine distribution, and work to achieve widespread immunity to save and protect our families and communities.
DID YOU KNOW?
Throughout this pandemic, my office and I have worked to make sure you remain informed with the latest updates and recommendations on any and all COVID-19 related topics. With that in mind here is some information from the IRS that may be of interest to you:
- Tax filing season opened on February 12, and there are simple steps you can take to help ensure you file accurate tax returns and speed tax refunds to avoid a variety of pandemic-related issues.
- People who have previously not used e-file, the IRS emphasizes using it this year to avoid paper-related processing delays.
- Taxpayers can file electronically by using a tax professional, IRS Free File or other commercial tax preparation software.
- Taxpayers have until Thursday, April 15, 2021, to file their 2020 tax return and pay any tax owed.
- This IRS fact sheet explains what taxpayers need to know to file a complete and accurate tax return.
- For the first time, Forms 1040 and 1040-SR are available in Spanish, and the IRS has a new form allowing taxpayers to request that they receive information from the IRS in their preferred language.
