WASHINGTON—After hundreds of video conference calls, phone conversations, and socially-distanced meetings with Texans over the past few months, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) released the following information about the new COVID-19 relief bill – the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection, and Schools (HEALS) Act – announced by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
How the HEALS Act helps Texans:
- Supports Texas workers and their jobs:
- Extends an added federal unemployment insurance benefit for Texans out of work
- Provides $1,200 direct assistance payments to Texans earning less than $75,000 annually
- Extends employee retention tax credit to help stabilize Texas jobs
- Adds $90 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program, in addition to the more than $130 billion still remaining in the program
- Expands the Paycheck Protection Program to include Main Street advocates and 501(c)(6)s
- Supports educators and students at all levels:
- Extends student loan deferment program from CARES Act
- Provides $70 billion in federal funding for K-12 schools
- Provides $29 billion in direct funds for higher education
- Provides $5 billion for the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund
- Supports our health care workers in fighting the coronavirus:
- Provides an additional $25 billion for healthcare provider relief fund
- Adds $16 billion for testing, contact tracing, and surveillance, on top of $9 billion still available from previous bills
- Adds $26 billion for vaccine development
- Adds $15.5 billion to NIH for research
- Appropriates $4.5 billion to care for Americans’ mental health, suicide prevention, and substance use disorder services
- Provides $7.6 billion for Community Health Centers
- Provides $225 million for rural health clinics
- Protects frontline health care workers (as well as charities, educators, and small businesses) following public health guidelines from expensive and timely lawsuits
- Cares for our children through the pandemic:
- Includes an additional $15 billion for childcare assistance
- Cares for foster youth, including kids aging out of the system, with $50 million and increased flexibility in program requirements
- Appropriates $10 million for state courts handling child abuse and neglect cases
- Aids farmers and ranchers and facilitates the food supply chain:
- Adds $20 billion in direct assistance for the agricultural industry and strengthens the farm safety net
- Aids state and local governments:
- Adds flexibility for state and local governments using CARES Act funds, of which at least 25% must still be passed to downstream governments