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West Virginia will soon receive at least $4 billion in direct federal funding for COVID recovery and infrastructure because of the American Rescue plan that Senator Manchin voted for. The state will receive $1.25 billion and each county and city will directly receive an additional, significant amount on top of what the state receives.
Click here to view the city and county funding.
Beyond these significant investments to the state, counties, and cities, West Virginia will receive $800 million for our primary/secondary schools, $190 million for our colleges/universities, and $138 million for broadband, to highlight a few priorities. An overview of the direct funding is below:
INDIVIDUAL AID: $1,400 stimulus checks to most West Virginians; child tax credits; Earned Income Tax Credit; health insurance assistance; student loan assistance; and unemployment through Sept. 6
SMALL BUSINESS AID: Reauthorization of PPP, EIDL, shuttered venue and restaurant assistance Previously, WV small businesses received over $1 billion in direct aid
BROADBAND: $138 million in funding for broadband and $2 million for hotspots
LOCAL: $677 million in funding for cities and 55 counties, to be administered by local governments
STATE: $1.25 billion in funding for WV state government, to be administered by the Governor and legislature
VACCINES: $11 million to WV in supplemental vaccine funding and on increasing vaccine doses
EDUCATION: $800 million for WV pre-K through 12th grade; $190 million for WV colleges and universities
CHILD CARE: $260 million for WV child care and $10 million for WV Head Start
SENIORS: $9 million for WV senior programs
HOUSING: $152 million for emergency rental assistance in WV and $38.5 million for energy bills (LIHEAP)
TRANSPORTATION: $8 million for WV airports; $24 million for WV transit systems
VETERANS: Approximately $2.2 million for Veterans nursing homes
HOSPITALS AND RURAL HEALTH: Millions in direct funding to help WV hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, health departments, home health, and long-term care
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH: Millions in direct funding to WV through the Substance Abuse Prevention and Health Service Administration
FOOD ASSISTANCE: Direct funding to our most vulnerable West Virginians through federal programs
FIREFIGHTERS AND FIRST RESPONDERS: The Assistance to Firefighters and SAFER grant programs will receive additional allocations of $100 million and $200 million respectively; Firefighters and First Responders are also eligible for support under state and local government funds
See more in-depth information below:
Direct Aid to Individuals and Families
· Stimulus Checks – 891,039 West Virginia households will receive payments, totaling more than $2 billion for the state. This includes:
I. Direct $1,400 checks to every person making $75,000 or less
II. Direct checks of $2,800 to every couple that files jointly and makes $150,000 or less OR $112,500 (or less) as head of household
III. An additional $1,400 for each qualifying child or dependent
· Child Tax Credit – Allows parents to receive a tax credit of up to $3,600 per child under age 6 and $3,000 for children 17 and under. Expansion will benefit approximately 346,000 West Virginia children under age 17.
· Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) – The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit is now fully refundable and the credit was increased to cover childcare costs up to $4,000 for one child and $8,000 for two or more children.
· Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – Expanded eligibility for the EITC credit to over 17 million adults with no children and increased the credit to $1,502 from $543. Expansion would assist an additional 110,000 workers in West Virginia.
· Unemployment Assistance – 37,390 West Virginians will receive unemployment extensions. Assistance includes:
I. Providing an additional $300/week in unemployment benefits through September 6, 2021
II. Extending the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program for self-employed and gig workers through September 6, 2021
III. Extending the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program for workers who have exhausted their state benefits through September 6, 2021
IV. Preventing a surprise tax bill for workers who received unemployment compensation in 2020 by making the first $10,200 of unemployment benefits non-taxable for individuals making less than $150,000
· Health Insurance Premium Assistance – Provides additional premium assistance to families who purchase health insurance from the ACA marketplace. In West Virginia, a family of four at 458% of the Federal Poverty Level, could see a $1,241 reduction in monthly premium expenses and an individual with an income of $55,000/year could see premiums drop from around $1,375 to $390 a month. West Virginia patients will see some of the highest savings in the country due to these enhanced premium tax credits.
Direct Aid to Small Businesses
· Provides $15 billion for SBA to administer additional Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) advance payments. In the first round of EIDL Advances, WV received 12,552 advances totaling $41.445 million. In EIDL loans, WV has received 8,063 loans totaling $433.616 million.
· Includes $7.25 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). As of March 7, 2021, almost 7,000 West Virginians and businesses have accessed loans through the program, totaling almost $558 million in funding through PPP.
· $25 billion for restaurants and $1.25 billion in additional funding for shuttered venues. WV has lost nearly 30,000 jobs in the restaurant industry since last year, almost 40% of the restaurant workforce.
· $175 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for assistance to small and rural stations – like WV Public Broadcasting – threatened by declines in non-Federal revenues.
Broadband Expansion and Hotspots
· $10 billion for broadband infrastructure in rural states, with a minimum of $100 million per state. West Virginia will receive $138 million
· Nearly $7.2 billion for schools to purchase hotspots and other devices to enable distance learning efforts around the country
· $200 million for libraries to purchase hotspots and other devices to increase connectivity in rural areas – West Virginia will receive at least $2 million
Local and State Governments
· $677 million will go directly to local governments – cities and counties – across West Virginia, including:
I. $176 million for larger metropolitan cities
II. $153 million for smaller cities
III. $348 million for 55 counties
· $1.25 billion for the State of West Virginia
· This funding may be used to cover: expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic, lost revenue related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and necessary investments in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure.
· The final bill includes commonsense guardrails to ensure this funding is not used to shore up pension funds or fill budget holes unrelated to the pandemic.
· The funding will be distributed in two tranches: the first half will be issued within 60 days; the second half will be distributed roughly 12 months later.
Vaccines, Testing and Contact Tracing
· $20 billion for COVID-19 vaccines
I. West Virginia will receive $11 million in supplemental vaccine dollars, in addition to its allocation of state vaccine grants determined by the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary
· $50 billion for COVID-19 testing and tracing
· $10 billion for the Defense Production Act (DPA) for COVID-19 supplies
Schools
· $130 billion for K-12, including roughly $800 million for West Virginia schools
· $40 billion for higher education, including roughly $190 million for West Virginia’s colleges and universities (including public and private, non-profit schools)
· $1 billion in supplemental, emergency funding for Head Start with roughly $10 million going to West Virginia
· $39 billion for child care, including roughly $260 million for West Virginia
· The ARP makes the discharge of student loan debt tax-free from 2021-2025. This means that a borrower will not have to pay taxes on student loan debt forgiven during the this five-year period.
Seniors
$1.4 billion for programs that assist older Americans with more than $9 million going to West Virginia to provide senior nutrition services (including home-based delivered meals), support caregivers and invest in preventive services
Housing
· Senator Manchin’s bipartisan amendment secured $800 million in emergency funding within the Department of Education to identify students experiencing homelessness and provide essential wrap-around services.
· $20 billion for emergency rental assistance with $152 million going to West Virginia
· $4.5 billion for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) with roughly $38.5 million likely going to West Virginia
· $500 million for Low Income Water Assistance
Transportation and Economic Development
· $15 billion for the third round of the Payroll Support Program for the airline industry
· $8 billion for airports to cover operations, make payroll, and recover from the pandemic, including an estimated $8 million for West Virginia’s airports
· $3 billion for the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to help communities recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 25% of funds dedicated to communities that have suffered job losses in the travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation sectors.
· $30 billion for transit, including an estimated $24 million for West Virginia’s urban and rural transit systems
Veterans Assistance
· $14.482 billion for healthcare services and additional resources to care for Veterans
· $386 million to help get Veterans back to work by funding up to 12 months of rapid retraining assistance and a housing allowance for Veterans who are unemployed as a result of the pandemic
· $272 million to mitigate the backlog in claims processing caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
· $100 million in funding to accelerate VA’s supply chain modernization
· $500 million to help states upgrade State Veterans Homes across the country and $250 million in onetime emergency payments to support these facilities
· Approximately $2.2 million for Veterans nursing homes
Hospitals/Rural Health Providers
· $8.5 billion for Provider Relief Fund to support rural health providers, including hospitals, clinics, health centers, nursing homes, home health, and long-term care centers.
· $7.6 billion for Community Health Centers for vaccine administration and distribution, testing, tracing, equipment and supplies, workforce, and infrastructure needs
· $7.6 billion for grant awards to state, local, and territorial public health departments to establish and expand public health workforce
· $500 million for rural healthcare grants to create an emergency pilot program to increase vaccine capacity and distribution
· $1.4 billion for various programs to strengthen the healthcare workforce education programs and retention
Behavioral Health
· $4 billion to the Substance Abuse Prevention and Health Services Administration to address addiction and mental health
Food Assistance
· Temporary boost the value of voucher benefits for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
· Extends P-EBT program authorization through the summer months
· $510 million for FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program
Direct Aid to Individuals and Families
· Stimulus Checks – 891,039 West Virginia households will receive payments, totaling in $2,275,091 for the state. This includes:
I. Direct $1,400 checks to every person making $75,000 or less
II. Direct checks of $2,800 to every couple that files jointly and makes $150,000 or less OR $112,500 (or less) as head of household
III. An additional $1,400 for each qualifying child or dependent
· Child Tax Credit – Allows parents to receive a tax credit of up to $3,600 per child under age 6 and $3,000 for children 17 and under. Expansion will benefit approximately 346,000 West Virginia children under age 17.
· Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) – The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit is now fully refundable and the credit was increased to cover childcare costs up to $4,000 for one child and $8,000 for two or more children.
· Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – Expanded eligibility for the EITC credit to over 17 million adults with no children and increased the credit to $1,502 from $543. Expansion would assist an additional 110,000 workers in West Virginia.
· Unemployment Assistance – 37,390 West Virginians will receive unemployment extensions. Assistance includes:
I. Providing an additional $300/week in unemployment benefits through September 6, 2021
II. Extending the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program for self-employed and gig workers through September 6, 2021
III. Extending the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program for workers who have exhausted their state benefits through September 6, 2021
IV. Preventing a surprise tax bill for workers who received unemployment compensation in 2020 by making the first $10,200 of unemployment benefits non-taxable for individuals making less than $150,000
· Health Insurance Premium Assistance – Provides additional premium assistance to families who purchase health insurance from the ACA marketplace. In West Virginia, a family of four at 458% of the Federal Poverty Level, could see a $1,241 reduction in monthly premium expenses and an individual with an income of $55,000/year could see premiums drop from around $1,375 to $390 a month. West Virginia patients will see some of the highest savings in the country due to these enhanced premium tax credits.
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