Third Way Statement in Support of Passage of the American Rescue Plan

WASHINGTON — Third Way released the following statement from Jim Kessler, Executive Vice President for Policy:

“The American Rescue Plan is a massive achievement for the Biden-Harris Administration, House and Senate Democrats, and the United States of America. It’s exactly what this country needs at this moment to combat a global pandemic and rescue the country. This relief package is bold, forward-looking, and addresses the immediate needs of millions of Americans. Throughout 2020, Republicans dithered when addressing the pandemic. President Biden showed the time for dithering is in the past. We commend the Democratic caucuses in the House and Senate that rose to the challenge and got this done quickly.

“A year into the pandemic, The American Rescue Plan contains needed provisions to combat COVID-19 by expanding funding for vaccines and testing, providing affordable health coverage for laid-off workers through COBRA and the health insurance exchanges, expanding cost caps to millions more Americans through the Affordable Care Act to give them financial relief from high costs, and expanding coverage to low-income, working adults through strong incentives for states that haven't yet expanded Medicaid. The legislation also improves our economy with extensions of unemployment insurance benefits to more workers and at a level that better meets people’s lost income, direct checks to working- and middle-class Americans, support for small businesses especially minority-owned small businesses, resources for states and localities to fight the pandemic and start to build back, and long overdue expansions of the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit which will cut childhood poverty in half. In all, this legislation will provide the base that the United States needs to start building back better.”