Underwood Supports Passage of American Rescue Plan to Deliver Urgently Needed Relief to Illinois Families and Communities; Legislation Heads to President to Be Signed Into Law

Press Release

Today Representative Lauren Underwood (IL-14) supported the passage of the American Rescue Plan in the House of Representatives. The legislation, which will now head to the President's desk for signature, will deliver urgently needed relief to Americans impacted by the coronavirus pandemic by delivering another round of direct payments to families and individuals, speeding up COVID-19 vaccinations, safely reopening schools, and supporting essential workers and small businesses. The legislation includes a provision introduced and championed by Underwood to lower out-of-pocket health care premiums by making premium tax credits for Health Insurance Marketplace plans more generous and available to more Americans. 

"Northern Illinois families and small businesses need relief from the hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and help is on the way.  This legislation will help speed vaccinations, provide direct payments to families, equip our schools with the resources they need to operate safely and effectively, and help small businesses keep their doors open," said Underwood. "The American Rescue Plan will put money in the pockets of families who need it through direct payments, an enhanced child tax credit, extended unemployment benefits, and lower health care costs. This bold legislation gives us the tools we need to crush the virus and rebuild our economy. "   

The American Rescue Plan includes key provisions to: 

Speed Up Vaccinations, Contain the Virus, and Keep Schools Open Safely

Provides $275 million to Illinois to speed up the distribution of vaccines and set up community vaccination centers around the United States.  
It also provides $1.5 billion to Illinois for testing, tracing, and mitigation efforts to fight the spread of COVID-19 and provide PPE to frontline health care workers. 
The American Rescue Plan invests nearly $130 billion directly in K-12 education to help schools operate safely and make up for lost learning time. IL-14 school districts will receive approximately $169 million, specified below.
It provides an estimated $1.3 billion to support Illinois institutions of higher education and help their students cope with the financial strain caused by COVID-19.
Deliver Immediate Economic Relief for Americans Hit Hardest  

Economists estimate the plan will create 7.5 million jobs and bring the economy back to near full employment in a little over 12 months, which would have taken at least three years without the new legislation. 
Delivers another round of relief checks to adults with incomes up to $80,000 and families with incomes up to $160,000. Most adults and dependent children will receive $1,400 each. This newly applies to dependent adult children because of a change Rep. Underwood advocated for.
Keeps the weekly federal unemployment benefit at $300 per week through September 6 and extends the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program.
It also fixes a glitch in eligibility for recipients of Illinois' pandemic unemployment assistance program, restoring payments to workers who had lost them in early March.
Provides tax relief by exempting up to $10,200 in unemployment benefits from federal income taxes for hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans that have claimed unemployment insurance benefits in 2020.
Increases the Child Tax Credit for 2021 from $2,000 per child to $3,600 per child under age 6 and $3,000 per child under age 18. This applies to single filers earning up to $75,000, head of household filers earning up to $112,500, and joint filers earning up to $150,000 and is refundable, meaning families will receive it as a direct payment even if they do not owe taxes this year.
To ensure families receive immediate relief, starting in July, the IRS will distribute half of the credit via direct payments. This means a family claiming the full expanded credit could receive $250 a month per child from July to December 2021, and then would receive the remainder as a credit on their 2021 tax return.
The expanded Child Tax Credit will benefit nearly 9 in 10 Illinois children and lift over 150,000 Illinois children out of poverty.
Strengthens and expands federal nutrition programs to address the current hunger crisis.  
Provides funding for rental assistance, mortgage forbearance, and extending the eviction and foreclosure moratoriums until September 30, 2021.  
Lowers Health Care Costs  

Includes legislation championed by Rep. Underwood (H.R. 369) to lower out-of-pocket health care costs for people purchasing Marketplace plans, expanding coverage to uninsured Americans and saving individuals and families hundreds or thousands of dollars on premiums.  
Covers 100% of COBRA premiums for laid off workers so families can afford to keep their employer-sponsored coverage.  
Prohibits copayments for medical care for veterans during the pandemic.  
Support for Our Communities and Small Businesses   

Provides $29 billion to revitalize restaurants, food, and beverage establishments for a Restaurant Revitalization Fund to support struggling restaurants and bars.
Continues to support popular programs to support non-profits stay open and keep their employees on payroll.
IL-14 Funding to Combat COVID-19 from the American Rescue Plan

The American Rescue Plan provides an estimated $893 million to IL-14 municipalities. New State and Local Coronavirus Relief Funds can be used to cover pandemic related costs and keep first responders, frontline health workers, and other vital service providers safely on the job as Illinois and local governments roll out vaccines. Funds must be used to address the pandemic or its negative economic impacts, including to replace revenue lost, delayed, or decreased as a result of the pandemic.

State and Local Funding Estimates from American Rescue Plan

DeKalb County

$20,344,127.19

DuPage County

$178,994,844.61

Kane County

$103,256,283.32

Kendall County

$25,016,816.18

Lake County

$135,088,673.99

McHenry County

$59,690,872.03

Will County

$133,965,351.26

Algonquin village

$3,817,257.18

Antioch village

$1,751,290.43

Aurora*

$38,225,579.74

Batavia city

$3,264,133.56

Beach Park village

$1,692,728.76

Bolingbrook village

$9,209,872.69

Bull Valley village

$133,925.84

Burlington village

$76,599.65

Campton Hills village

$1,370,268.94

Channahon village

$1,635,649.67

Cortland town

$544,598.82

Crystal Lake city

$4,920,786.36

Dekalb City*

$11,521,742.38

Elburn village

$740,916.31

Elgin*

$21,648,074.74

Fox Lake village

$1,291,198.33

Geneva city

$2,694,454.54

Greenwood village

$27,921.81

Gurnee village

$3,753,135.86

Hampshire village

$772,297.46

Harvard city

$1,119,343.30

Hawthorn Woods village

$1,070,665.46

Hebron village

$146,157.08

Hinckley village

$253,273.04

Holiday Hills village

$71,534.19

Huntley village

$3,363,960.21

Island Lake village

$990,853.56

Johnsburg village

$786,752.56

Joliet*

$23,860,369.73

Kaneville village

$59,302.96

Lake Barrington village

$601,430.82

Lake in the Hills village

$3,537,668.45

Lake Villa village

$1,059,175.51

Lakemoor village

$737,209.88

Lakewood village

$494,314.85

Lily Lake village

$126,389.43

Lindenhurst village

$1,756,355.90

Lisbon village

$38,052.73

Maple Park village

$168,642.78

Marengo city

$918,825.18

McCullom Lake village

$124,536.21

McHenry city

$3,343,327.72

Millbrook village

$40,523.69

Millington village

$81,418.02

Minooka village

$1,408,074.57

Montgomery village

$2,426,232.21

Mundelein village

$3,836,283.55

Naperville*

$13,389,833.91

Newark village

$127,007.17

North Aurora village

$2,230,903.09

North Barrington village

$364,713.18

Oakwood Hills village

$250,554.99

Old Mill Creek village

$20,632.49

Oswego village

$4,478,855.79

Pingree Grove village

$1,219,911.23

Plainfield village

$5,474,157.08

Plano city

$1,441,185.39

Plattville village

$31,628.24

Port Barrington village

$183,839.17

Prairie Grove village

$238,570.85

Richmond village

$235,235.06

Ringwood village

$100,444.38

Sandwich city

$916,477.77

Shorewood village

$2,163,198.89

Somonauk village

$231,157.98

Spring Grove village

$704,963.90

St. Charles city

$4,063,117.36

Sugar Grove village

$1,221,640.90

Sycamore city

$2,263,643.27

Union village

$68,321.95

Virgil village

$40,400.14

Volo village

$718,183.51

Wadsworth village

$451,073.11

Warrenville city

$1,627,619.06

Wauconda village

$1,668,389.84

Waukegan*

$19,925,362.32

West Chicago city

$3,313,058.50

Wonder Lake village

$479,612.66

Woodstock city

$3,118,347.13

Yorkville city

$2,546,691.34

*funding estimates were prepared by Congressional Research Service. The list of eligible governments and their respective populations was generated from the 2019 City and Town dataset from the Census Bureau, which includes data on both "incorporated areas" and "minor civil divisions. In all cases, the list of nonentitlement governments intends to accurately capture the total population eligible for assistance in each state, rather than the total number of governments eligible for assistance, as the total state population is used to calculate the amount every nonentitlement government will receive.

The list of "metro cities" as defined in the proposal and the allocation amounts provided to those cities were generated from the FY2020 CDBG entitlement awards distributed to those cities as shown on the HUD website. Select city governments that qualify but have chosen not to participate in the CDBG entitlement program have been added, as that information has been made available, with allocation amounts estimated by CRS using the limited data available for those cities. Metro Cities are demarcated with an asterisk *

Please note that these estimated numbers may shift as more recent data becomes available.

Estimates also do not account for the cap on nonentitlement assistance equal to 75% of the government's previous annual budget.

Funding Estimates for local school districts

Beach Park Community Consolidated School District 3

$3,184,000

Marengo-Union Elementary Consolidated District 165

$1,107,000

Nippersink School District 2

$840,000

Alden-Hebron School District 19

$851,000

Antioch Community Consolidated School District 34

$1,818,000

Antioch Community High School District 117

$1,873,000

Aurora West Unit School District 129

$22,231,000

Batavia Unit School District 101

$1,680,000

Central Community Unit School District 301

$2,180,000

Community Unit School District 300

$19,174,000

Crystal Lake Community Consolidated School District 47

$4,946,000

Community High School District 155

$3,008,000

DeKalb Community Unit School District 428

$13,287,000

Emmons School District 33

$185,000

Fox Lake Grade School District 114

$970,000

Fremont School District 79

$531,000

Geneva Community Unit School District 304

$1,759,000

Grass Lake School District 36

$522,000

Gurnee School District 56

$2,021,000

Harrison School District 36

$635,000

Harvard Community Unit School District 50

$3,759,000

Hinckley-Big Rock Community Unit School District 429

$746,000

Huntley Consolidated School District 158

$1,592,000

Johnsburg Community Unit School District 12

$1,190,000

Lake Villa Community Consolidated School District 41

$1,643,000

Kaneland Community Unit School District 302

$1,085,000

Marengo Community High School District 154

$581,000

McHenry Community Consolidated School District 15

$4,263,000

McHenry Community High School District 156

$1,836,000

Millburn Community Consolidated School District 24

$267,000

Minooka Community Consolidated School District 201

$1,062,000

Newark Community High School District 18

$148,000

Newark Community Consolidated School District 66

$166,000

Oswego Community Unit School District 308

$4,523,000

Plainfield School District 202

$15,352,000

Plano Community Unit School District 88

$2,353,000

Prairie Grove Community School District 46

$434,000

Richmond-Burton Community High School District 157

$434,000

Riley Community Consolidated School District 18

$323,000

Sandwich Community Unit School District 430

$2,113,000

Somonauk Community Unit School District 432

$637,000

St. Charles Community Unit School District 303

$3,251,000

Sycamore Community Unit School District 427

$2,612,000

Wauconda Community Unit School District 118

$2,971,000

West Chicago School District 33

$6,361,000

Indian Prairie Community Unit School District 204

$6,594,000

Community Unit School District 200

$8,800,000

Woodland Community Consolidated School District 50

$4,180,000

Woodstock Community Unit School District 200

$5,777,000

Yorkville Community Unit School District 115

$1,575,000

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