White House touting local benefits of American Rescue Plan to mark 2-year anniversary

The White House on Friday will highlight impacts of the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, as it prepares to mark two years since President Biden signed it into law.

The White House will release state-by-state data for all 50 states about the impact of the package, pointing to jobs and small businesses created and the number of people who saved money on health insurance coverage, a White House official told The Hill.

The data will also include the number of child care programs that were able to stay open and the number of college students who received direct aid to help them stay in school.

The administration will also push out data “comparing before the American Rescue Plan versus two years after it was signed on the state of the economy, housing, health care, and poverty rates,” the official said.

The White House will target critical states for Democrats in 2024 — Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Michigan — by partnering with members of Congress to tout the American Rescue Plan’s impacts at home, according to the official.

That includes partnerships with Democrats like Arizona Rep. Greg Stanton, Florida Reps. Darren Soto and Maxwell Frost, Georgia Rep. Lucy McBath and Michigan Reps. Debbie Dingell and Haley Stevens, as well as mayors and other local leaders.

The local push aligns with an effort from American Bridge 21st Century, a major Democratic group, which is launching a six-figure advertisement campaign. The liberal super PAC will run ads in media markets for Greensboro, N.C.; Flint, Mich.; Erie, Pa.; and Green Bay, Wis., about the benefits of the American Rescue Plan. 

Also on Friday, Vice President Harris will release a video about the bill, arguing it helped working families get ahead and touting its Child Tax Credit. Biden on Thursday unveiled his budget and it included restoring the full tax credit, which Democrats have called for since the expanded credit expired at the end of 2021.

The American Rescue Plan was signed on March 11, 2021, less than two months into Biden’s presidency.

To mark the first anniversary of the law, Biden visited a Philadelphia elementary school last year to tout how the funding kept schools open amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bill was a major achievement for Biden and Democrats and was used by lawmakers on the trail during the 2022 midterm campaigns, though centrist Democrats and Republicans have mentioned the package when voicing concerns over government spending.