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WISCONSIN — Protect Our Care released new data comparing how the Republican pandemic relief proposal fails to deliver on the level of support and assistance compared to President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. If Congress were to take up President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, Wisconsin could benefit from as much as $11 billion in funding from the federal government to support schools, provide rental assistance, ramp up vaccinations and testing, and fund childcare and state and local aid based on its proportion of the total US population.
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Wisconsin Could Benefit From $11 Billion Under the American Rescue Plan
(Based on Proportion of U.S. Population)
- State and Local Aid: ~$6.1 Billion
- Rental Assistance: ~$525 Million
- K-12 and Higher Education: ~$3 Billion
- Vaccinations & Testing: ~$1.2 Billion
- Child care: ~$438 Million
- Stimulus payments and unemployment relief for millions of Wisconsinites
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Wisconsin Would Only Benefit From ~$2 Billion Under the GOP Proposal
(Based on Proportion of US Population)
- State and Local Aid: $0
- Rental Assistance: $0
- K-12: ~$350 million
- Vaccines and Testing: ~$1.2 Billion
- Childcare: ~$350 million
- Stimulus payments and unemployment relief for far fewer Wisconsinites
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At the same time, the hypocrisy of Senator Ron Johnson and Republican senators is on full display as they attempt to lowball President Biden’s American Rescue Plan proposals, which are overwhelmingly popular and will help pull us out of the pandemic. Yet, these Republican senators had no qualms previously voting for, and in some cases, enthusiastically supporting reconciliation to move forward their own agenda. Republicans who are against using budget reconciliation to prevent a GOP filibuster and pass vital COVID relief had no problem supporting the process when it came to much more partisan measures like slashing taxes for the rich or attempting to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
RON JOHNSON APPLAUDED REPUBLICANS FOR TRYING TO REPEAL THE ACA VIA RECONCILIATION “BY OURSELVES”
2017: Ron Johnson: When Democrats Rejected Our ACA Repeal Ideas, “We Decided To Do This Through Reconciliation By Ourselves.” “Mika Brzezinski: So first of all, I think a lot of reasonable Democrats would agree that Obamacare needs to have revisions, have improvements for sure. But the reality now, with this process, what is possible?” Ron Johnson: “Well, we’re probably going to have to go through this process first. And again, I didn’t agree that we should automatically do this through reconciliation. I think we should have reached out to our Democratic colleagues and just pointed out the reality. And say, listen, this is broken. Look at what President Clinton said, it’s a crazy system. Let’s fix it for the American public. That was not the decision that was made. So we decided to do this through reconciliation by ourselves. And so here we are. We’re probably going to have to go through this process.” [“Morning Joe,” MSNBC, 6/22/17]
**Read the Full Report: A History of Republican Reconciliation Hypocrisy 2001-2021**
Fact Sheet: Wisconsin & The American Rescue Plan Toplines
Wisconsin Schools, Colleges, and Childcare Providers Could Receive Billions In Needed Funding From The American Rescue Plan To Open Safely
The American Rescue Plan includes $170 billion for K-12 and higher education, including $130 billion to enable K-12 schools to open safely during the pandemic. Another $35 billion would go toward higher education, including financial assistance for students. The remaining $5 billion would go to governors to use for any level of education in their states. Based on its proportion of the entire U.S. population, Wisconsin could receive roughly $3 billion in school funding to ensure that schools can open up safely.
The ARP also creates a $25 billion fund to assist child-care providers in financial distress, including those facing costs to improve safety amid the pandemic. Wisconsin could receive roughly $438 million from this fund, which could help alleviate soaring child care costs for Wisconsin families.
Wisconsin’s Vaccine And Testing Operation Will Ramp Up Significantly With Additional Funds
The American Rescue Plan devotes $20 billion to a national vaccination program in partnership with states, localities, tribes and territories and includes $50 billion to buy rapid tests, expand lab capacity, and help schools and local governments conduct more tests. Based on its proportion of the total US population, Wisconsin could benefit from roughly $1.2 billion in support for vaccination and testing, not to mention President Biden’s aim to deploy mobile vaccination units to rural, hard-to-reach areas.
Wisconsin Could See Billions In State And Local Aid From The American Rescue Plan
The American Rescue Plan includes $350 billion in state and local funding. Based on its proportion of the US population, Wisconsin could receive roughly $6.1 billion in desperately needed state and local aid from the bill. Wisconsin can use such aid to restore funding to agencies that previously faced cuts — like the Department of Health Services and the Department of Corrections — while also scaling up the state’s coronavirus response.
More Than 100,000 Wisconsinites Could See Rental Assistance From The American Rescue Plan
The American Rescue Plan extends the eviction and foreclosure moratorium through September and includes $25 billion to help renters and small landlords with back rent and $5 billion for paying energy and water bills. Based on its proportion of the US population, Wisconsin could receive $525 million in rental assistance funding.
ARP’s Stimulus Payments And Extended Unemployment Benefits Will Help Millions Of Wisconsinites Who Are Facing The Pandemic’s Economic Fallout
The American Rescue Plan includes direct stimulus payments of $1,400. The plan will extend federal unemployment benefits through September, including for self-employed or contract workers and adds a $400-a-week federal supplement to state unemployment insurance payments. Roughly 3 million Wisconsinites received stimulus payments from previous funding rounds and tens of thousands of Wisconsinites will benefit from extended federal unemployment payments.
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