How President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan affects Georgia
WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Joe Biden is hopeful Congress will imminently pass his $1.9 trillion relief package, also known as the American Rescue Plan, in the coming weeks.
White House officials say the plan will provide immediate relief to Georgia workers and families while also extending critical support to Georgia municipalities and businesses.
RELATED: Here's what's in Biden's COVID-19 Relief Plan
FILE - President Joe Biden speaks at the Pentagon Feb. 10, 2021 in Washington, DC.
The White House shared a letter with FOX 5 Atlanta co-signed by more than 400 state and local organizations requesting relief through the American Rescue Plan.
The Georgia Municipal Association, Georgia Alliance of YMCA's and Fulton County Police Department were among the local agencies in the long list of co-signers.
The American Rescue Plan is the Biden administration's address of the pandemic and subsequent economic fallout.
The White House plan targets Georgia's unemployment rate, seeking to turn it closer to pre-pandemic rates.
The White House also recognized the need to provide rent and utility relief for Georgias and help some 544,000 food-insecure adults with children.
According to the White House, the House bill based on Biden's proposal will provide Georgia with $4.7 billion in state fiscal relief and $3.6 billion in local fiscal relief.
The bill projects to distribute more than $4.5 billion to Georgia's K-12 schools.
The current edition of the plan projects economic impact payments of $1,400 will reach some 9.7 million Georgians with additional relief of up to $1,600 per child to the families and $1,000 to childless workers, including frontline workers.
The plan includes $27 per person in nutrition for an estimated 1,875,000 people and health insurance premiums lower than $608 per month for a family of four earning $120,000 per year.
Critics in Georgia say the bill inordinately favors large Democratic states.
The bill passed the U.S. House on a near party-line 219-212 vote. Not a single Republican voted in favor of the bill.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp urged the state's Democratic Senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, to flex their influence in an evenly divided Senate and reconsider their stances on the bill.
U.S. Congressional Republicans have also criticized the bill for being too costly.
RELATED: Read the text: House Democrats publish full $1.9T COVID-19 relief bill — including $1,400 checks
The bill also falls short of some measures included in the initial proposal. A version of the bill that included a minimum wage hike seemed dead Monday as the Senate prepared to debate its own version of the House-passed aid package.
The Senate chamber’s parliamentarian said Senate rules forbid the inclusion of a straight-out minimum wage increase in the relief measure.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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