In March 2021, a year after the official beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fully Democratic Party controlled Congress sent President Joe Biden their version of a COVID relief bill to sign, a bill that was rejected by the entire Republican Party. In this episode, examine the new law in detail to learn how it could help you and to judge whether this new law was something you would have liked your representatives in Congress to support. Executive Producer: Michael Constantino Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Click here to contribute monthly or a lump sum via PayPal Click here to support Congressional Dish via Patreon (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank’s online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North, Number 4576, Crestview, FL 32536 Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Recommended Episodes CD213: CARES Act - The Trillions for COVID-19 Law CD161: Veterans Choice Program American Rescue Plan Outline House vote 1 House vote 2 Senate vote Text The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 TITLE I - COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY Subtitle A - Agriculture Sec. 1001: Food Supply Chain and Agriculture Pandemic Response Appropriates $4 billion for food purchases and grants for food suppliers to protect their workers from COVID Sec. 1002: Emergency Rural Development Grants For Rural Health Care Appropriates $500 million for "emergency pilot program" grants to impoverished rural communities to help them distribute vaccines with infrastructure and staffing, give them medical supplies, reimburse them for lost revenue. The program has to be in operation by mid-August 2021. Sec. 1005: Farm Loan Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Provides "such sums as may be necessary" for the Secretary of Agriculture (Tom Vilsack) to give "socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers" payments covering "up to 120% of the outstanding indebtedness" as of January 1, 2021, which will pay off loans they received from the Farm Service Agency or Commodity Credit Corporation and loans guaranteed by the Department of Agriculture. "Socially disadvantaged farmers" are farmers or ranchers who "have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual qualities." Subtitle B - Nutrition Sec. 1101: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Extends food assistance benefits provided by the Coronabus from June 30, 2021 to September 30, 2021 and appropriates an additional $1.15 billion. Sec. 1103: Additional Funding For Nutrition Assistance Programs Provides $1 billion in food assistance benefits to be split among the territories, which they will have until September 30, 2027 to use. Sec. 1105: Improvements to WIC Benefits Allows, but does not require, the Secretary of Agriculture to increase the amount of WIC benefits by $35 until July 11, 2021, if requested by the states. Appropriates $490 million. Sec. 1108: Pandemic EBT Program The Family's First Coronavirus Response Act said that during 2020 and 2021, if a school is closed for more than 5 consecutive days under a public health emergency designation, families of children who are eligible for free or discounted school lunches will be able to get benefits valued at least as much as the school meals, to be distributed via the food stamp program, with money on EBT cards. This changes the dates so that it's valid "in any school year in which there is a public health emergency declaration" or "in a covered summer period following a school session" which will allow the state to continue the benefits for 90 days so that kids can continue to receive the meal credits during the emergency summers. TITLE II - COMMI