U.S. Representative Val Demings announced today that 11,510,198 Economic Impact Payments totaling $26.5 billion were sent to hardworking Floridians in 2021. Rep. Demings helped secure the payments as part of the American Rescue Plan.
“The American Rescue Plan put checks in pockets, shots in arms, Floridians back to work, and children back to school safely,” said Rep. Demings. “The $1,400 checks delivered earlier this year were passed through Congress solely with Democratic votes because we believe that when we invest in middle class America, our nation prospers. The results speak for themselves: our economy is roaring back, and we are creating millions of good-paying American jobs. I’m fighting for further investments in middle class prosperity and I know that we can recover stronger than ever.”
Demings is running for U.S. Senate in the Democratic primary against Alan Grayson. The winner will take on Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who did not support the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 Stimulus Package. Rubio says the relief is a “fraud” because it goes far beyond the struggles of the coronavirus pandemic.
Former Congressman Grayson told West Orlando news in a previous interview “Rubio has failed to deliver.” He emphasized the need for relief and that voters expect elected leaders to do more. He criticized the lack of effort nationally for contact tracing, more testing, public safety and health earlier in the crisis. “There was so much unnecessary tragedy last year,” Grayson said. Now, he says it’s beyond time for real results at the national level and he is running to be that louder progressive voice in the Senate.
Democrats provided the following highlights from the American Rescue Plan:
THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN: HELP IS HERE
SHOTS IN ARMS
- More than 150 million Americans are fully vaccinated. More than two-thirds of adults in the U.S. have received at least one dose, including over 21 million in Florida.
- The American Rescue Plan also sent $6 billion to local Community Health Centers to help them distribute vaccines, including over $368 million for 47 health centers in Florida.
MONEY IN POCKETS
- New data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis shows that personal income rose in all 50 states and DC in the first quarter of this year—a 62% gain in Florida.
- More than 163 million Economic Impact Payments, totaling nearly $390 billion have made their way into the hands of hardworking Americans this year—including 11.5 million Economic Impact Payments totaling $26.5 billion for Florida.
- Monthly Child Tax Credit Payments of up to $300 per child will start hitting banks accounts July 15th for nearly all hardworking families. That’s roughly 39 million households, covering almost 90 percent of children nationwide. In Rep. Demings’ 10th District, that’s 176,100 children in 55,000 households, with an average benefit of $3,000 and 15,900 children being lifted out of poverty.
CHILDREN IN SCHOOLS
- The American Rescue Plan invested $130 billion to help schools reopen safely, stay open safely and make up for lost learning time. Orange County Public Schools received a $591,943,000 federal grant under the American Rescue Plan.
- The American Rescue Plan also sent $45 billion to help states keep childcare and Head Start programs open, keep workers on the job, and lower costs for working families. This includes $2.5 billion in childcare funding for Florida, and $5 million for Head Start (early childhood education) grantees serving Florida’s 10th District.
PEOPLE IN JOBS
- The economy is growing faster than at any time in the last 40 years. We’ve created 2 million jobs since President Biden took office and cut unemployment claims in half.
