Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is attending an economic briefing with U.S. President Joe Biden in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on March 5, 2021.
Tom Brenner | Reuters
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen promised on Tuesday that the money earmarked for state and local government aid on the new stimulus bill will come out the door as soon as possible.
With House’s approval of the $ 1.9 trillion spending plan imminent, Yellen said the priority will be to allocate the $ 350 billion earmarked to address revenue shortfalls.
“The rescue plan will fund a massive vaccination campaign. It will ensure that people are able to keep a roof over their heads and that unemployment insurance checks still arrive by mail,” he told a virtual conference of the National League of Cities. “In the coming days, our Treasury team will work to get this help as quickly as possible and the one that will produce the greatest impact.”
Government aid was one of the main strengths in getting President Joe Biden’s stimulus plan through Congress. The measure received no Republican support in the Senate and is likely to have the same fate in the House.
Republican Party members argue the allocation is a ransom for mismanaged states and municipalities, while Democrats say it is an important part of the recovery.
“If we do our job, I’m sure Americans will get to the other side of this pandemic and find some prosperity there. By the end of the year, I hope your city’s economies will recover.” they look a lot more like 2019 than 2020, ”Yellen said.
Along with state and local aid, the bill also provides another $ 1,400 cash infusion to people and appropriates funding for the health battle against Covid-19 and a number of other measures not directly related to the pandemic.
Yellen said the spending package “is not just fighting fires and resolving crises, but building a better country.”
“This law will see us go through the immediate crisis; we will clean up the chaos before our eyes and finally let it look to the future,” he added.