H eadlines
Trillions in New Pandemic Relief Available
L OCA L
SOPHIE PANZER | JE STAFF
and partner organizations what
the bill means for the Jewish
community. Elizabeth Cullen, health
policy counsel, said the relief
package’s multi-billion dollar
investment in public health
would help make the COVID-19
vaccine accessible to millions of
homebound seniors and people
with disabilities and ensure
more people have health insur-
ance coverage.

UPPE R DU BLI N
! M LE
OO LAB
DR AI
BE V
2 TS A
I UN
N M OW
OD L
EL EA
S SIN
OP G
EN !
ANYONE WHO RECEIVED
a $1,400 check from the
government this month knows
something big happened in
Congress recently, but the
latest pandemic relief package
goes far beyond individual
payments. The American Rescue Plan
passed March 6 and allocates
$1.9 trillion to individuals, small
businesses and nonprofits, state
and local governments, food
distribution sites, health care
providers and schools. It also
extends emergency unemploy-
ment benefits and provides tax
breaks to low-income individ-
uals and families with children.

The Jewish Federations of
North America held a webinar on
March 18 to inform stakeholders
UPSCALE LIVING
STEPS ABOVE IT ALL!
Designed with luxury in mind, The Residences at the Promenade
off er lavish apartments situated above a beautiful town center.

• Park Trails
• Pool with Sundeck
• Dog Parks & Washrooms
• Media & Game Rooms
Amenities too many to mention!
• Bocce Court
• Fitness Center
Clean Juice • Sprouts Farmers Market • Lululemon • Fine Wine and Good Spirits!
Coming Soon!
Home Goods • Banfi eld • La Scala’s Fire • Trinity Physical Therapy
Smashburger • Carbon Health • Starbucks • Serenity Nail Bar
Welsh & Dreshertown Roads • Dresher, PA
833-238-1100 ResidencesUD.com
A Bruce E. Toll Community
10 MARCH 25, 2021
JEWISH EXPONENT
Clockwise from upper left: Pam Kurtzman, Jorge Castro, Steve Gross and
Elana Broitman discuss the new pandemic relief bill.

To put this into perspective, this is the
largest investment in the public health system
in the history of the country.”
ELIZABTH CULLEN
“To put this into perspective,
this is the largest investment
in the public health system in
the history of the country,”
Cullen said.

The money, she explained,
goes directly to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
and to federal community
health centers. Bill language
specifies that $15 billion should
be used for the creation of
pop-up clinics and mobile
vaccine distribution to reach
people in underserved commu-
nities, $460 million is for
ramping up vaccine commu-
nication and outreach and
$47.8 billion will go to creating
a national COVID-19 testing
strategy. She said the bill allocates $4
billion to address the mental
health and substance use crisis
that has accompanied the
pandemic, with $50 million in
grants available to local nonprofits
and community organizations
that tackle the issue.

Aaron Kaufman, senior
legislative associate, said the
relief package includes $12.67
billion for home- and commu-
nity-based services for the
10 million Americans with
disabilities on Medicaid.

“Those are things like
showering, shaving, dressing,
activities of daily living,
non-emergency medical trans-
portation, job coaching, et
cetera,” he said. “This money is
very, very exciting.”
The new round of aid
makes several changes to the
Paycheck Protection Program,
the forgivable loans designed
to help small businesses and
nonprofits keep employees on
payroll through pandemic-in-
duced closures and revenue
loss. While the CARES Act
defined small businesses as
those with fewer than 100
employees, that number was
increased to 500. The new
rules also reduce the amount
of financial loss a business is
required to show to qualify.

The deadline to apply
for PPP aid from the Small
Business Administration is
March 31, but JFNA encour-
ages applicants to contact
state representatives and urge
them to extend the deadline.

There is a pre-written letter
asking senators to cosponsor
S. 723, the Paycheck Protection
Program Extension Act of
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM