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Washington, DC – One year since Democrats’ American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law, Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) highlighted how this legislation changed the course of the pandemic, put working Virginians back on the path to financial security, and supported police officers, firefighters, health care workers, and other frontline heroes.

“In the year since we passed the American Rescue Plan, businesses have reopened, kids have returned to their classrooms, and our economy has roared back.” said Rep. Wexton. “With the resources we’ve delivered in this historic legislation, we’ve got COVID on the run and have more tools than ever to keep our communities safe and healthy. As we mark this anniversary, I’m working hard to build on this progress by lowering costs for families and continuing our strong recovery.”

The American Rescue Plan has deployed billions in funds to help Virginia contain COVID-19 and build a strong economic recovery, including funding for Virginia’s state and local governments, resources to reopen schools, relief checks for families, child care support, and emergency rental assistance.

Nationally, these investments have powered an unprecedented economic recovery that has delivered: 

• The greatest single year of job creation in American history: 6.6 million jobs created in the President’s first year and 7.4 million over the course of the Biden Administration. More manufacturing jobs – nearly half a million – were created than in any year since 1994.
• The fastest economic growth in almost 40 years: with the GDP growing last year at 5.7 percent, the fastest rate since 1984.
• The biggest single year drop in the unemployment rate in our history: falling from 6.4 percent when Democrats took office to around 4 percent and now, 3.8 percent. When President Biden took office, over 18 million were receiving unemployment benefits; now, only 2 million are.
• A new record of 5.4 million new small businesses created: a full million more small businesses than in the year before.

In Virginia’s 10th District, American Rescue Plan funds have provided a lifeline for small businesses, enabled schools to reopen safely and make up for lost learning, helped expand broadband access, and much more:

Loudoun Now: Loudoun Supervisors Move on ‘Once-in-a-Generation’ Broadband Investment
“The county board voted unanimously Tuesday, July 20 to dedicate $12.4 million as matching funding for an overall $72 million project to offer broadband to approximately 8,800 homes. The county’s portion of that funding comes from federal American Rescue Plan Act funding allocated to Loudoun, and the vote was hoped to give the county the best chance of winning a $17.7 million Virginia Telecommunications Initiative grant toward that project.”

The Winchester Star: Tourism Board approves spending plan for ARPA funds
“The ARPA funds are intended to support new marketing initiatives to bolster local tourism and can be spent on things like print, broadcast and online advertising, video production, social media campaigns and targeted promotions.”

InsideNoVa: Manassas schools receive $14 million in relief funds
“The additional teacher and assistant pay, along with associated benefits and taxes, will address learning loss due to virtual instruction, [School division CFO Andy] Hawkins told the Manassas City Council on Monday night. ‘This may take the form of after-school remediation, Saturday learning seminars, and/or summer targeted assistance.’”

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