LOWELL, MA – Yesterday, 100 days after President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn in, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) applauded the work of the administration, in coordination with Congress, to achieve for workers and their families across the Commonwealth.
“When President Biden swore his oath of office on Inauguration Day, he promised to get America back on track by defeating COVID-19 and building America back better. 100 days into his administration, we’re on track to not just meet those goals, but surpass them,” said Congresswoman Trahan. “More than 200 million Americans have received at least one dose of their vaccine while deaths and hospitalizations have plummeted. As we continue our work to put this pandemic behind us, we’ve also begun advancing policies that get people back to work, our kids back to school, and our economy back on track. We have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks and months to build on the tremendous progress of the Biden-Harris administration’s first 100 days, but I can promise you that we’re just getting started.”
Over the course of his first 100 days in office, President Biden worked with Congress to:
- Get COVID-19 Under Control: Bolstered by the American Rescue Plan, more than 200 million vaccine doses have been administered. More than half of all U.S. adults have gotten at least one shot, and two out of every three seniors are fully vaccinated. Since Inauguration Day, daily COVID-related deaths are down 75 percent.
- Get Cash into Families’ Pockets: After the President introduced and Congress passed the American Rescue Plan, 160 million Americans have received relief checks of up to $1,400 each, meaning 85 percent of all Americans have received a direct cash payment to help make ends meet.
- Lift Children and Families Out of Poverty: The American Rescue Plan cut taxes for families with children, and starting in July, they will get up to a $3,600 tax credit for each child under 18 paid out in monthly installments – a policy that will cut the child poverty rate by as much as 50 percent. The relief package also improved and increased the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, meaning families can credit up to $16,000 for child and dependent care expenses.
- Get Folks Back to Work: Since January 20th, 1 million new jobs have been created – more than any President has been able to do in American history. Additionally, working with Congress, critical small business relief programs like the Paycheck Protection Program were extended, and 4 million businesses have accessed that relief so far.
- Get Students SAFELY into Classrooms: The President successfully promised to reopen a majority of K-8 schools and achieved that milestone thanks to the COVID-19 relief package that included $130 million for elementary and secondary schools to ensure that students and educators could return to the classroom safely.
- Keep People Covered: The American Rescue Plan cut premiums for those who get coverage through the Affordable Care Act, and thanks to those cuts, four in every five people can get plans for $10 per month. More than 850,000 people have signed up for coverage during the special enrollment period enacted and then extended by the President.
- Address Racial Inequities: The American Rescue Plan prioritized pervasive racial inequity in America’s health care system and economy that were exacerbated by the pandemic. The package provided $27 billion to address health disparities and protect vulnerable populations for the duration of the pandemic, including $7.6 billion to further support community health centers on the front lines in predominantly non-white communities. Economic investments in the relief bill are estimated to significantly reduce poverty in communities of color – in the Black community by 38 percent, in the Hispanic community by 43 percent, and in Asian American and Pacific Islander communities by 23 percent.
In the coming weeks, Trahan and her colleagues in Congress will continue working over the coming weeks in coordination with the administration to convert the President’s American Jobs Plan, a long overdue investment in rebuilding America’s physical infrastructure that will get millions of Americans back to work in high quality, good paying jobs, and American Families Plan, a once-in-a-generation investment in children and families that will help them get back on their feet and grow the middle class, into legislative text and then get them passed into law.
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