Federal rescue plan hits many areas throughout Ohio

(The Center Square) – The American Rescue Plan’s $1,400 stimulus has been well publicized in Ohio, but the state is expected to receive much more from the federal government’s $1.9 trillion expense.

For starters, the Earned Income Tax Credit is expanded to include more workers, and is increased for those who already qualify. By now, the option of taking the annual child tax credit as monthly payments is well-reported. However, those under the poverty level without children will see their EITC nearly triple.

Also, the income cap will rise from $17,000 a year to more $21,000. As many as 600,000 Ohioans may be affected by the new qualifications for the EITC.

Other benefits include:

*-About $4 billion in loans and debts accrued by Black farmers will be forgiven nationwide, including about $150 million in Ohio. Another $1 billion will go toward the formation of a council run by the USDA that will determine grants and scholarships for minority farmers.

Back in September, the Ohio Farm Bureau held a virtual conference called “Beyond 40 Acres and a Mule” which addressed the past and the future of African-Americans in Ohio farming. American historian Anna-Lisa Cox spoke at the event, reminding those in attendance that freed slaves after the Civil War were promised “40 acres and a mule” but that the promise was rescinded by President Andrew Johnson.

“African-Americans did farm the land well,” Cox said at the conference. “They came early, they picked out excellent land and they succeeded, but that is not what history books have told us and that is not what most people think of when they think of the Midwest.”

*-Retired workers living off pension need not worry about their money running out for the time being. About $86 billion is earmarked to bail out 185 union pension plans nationwide. That’s about 15% of all union plans and covering an estimated 2.5 million workers.

The plan was championed by U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who had been working for years to help pensions. Republicans call this plan a “band-aid” that does little to fix the problem.

People paying off student loans will see expanded student-loan forgiveness. Usually, if a recipient of a loan stays in good standing for 20 years, their remaining balance can be forgiven, but that balance is credited as earned income and appropriately taxed. Under the ARP, that balance will be tax-free until at least 2025.

Furthermore, current students will see relief in the form of extended grants. The plan calls for $40 billion to colleges and universities, at least half of which must be distributed in the form of emergency grants to students for tuition, lodging and supplies.

* The ARP closes a loophole to help veterans returning to school. Originally, for-profit colleges could encourage veterans to pay for school using benefits from the G.I. Bill, and those benefits counted toward the school’s required grant payout total to students. The new plan excludes these benefits from the payout total.

* About $30 billion will be allotted for projects to fix mass transit lines. This would fix Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposal to drastically cut funding for the state’s mass transit system. DeWine’s current budget for 2022 and 2023 calls for $7.3 million per year, as opposed to $70 million for 2020 and 2021.

However, the Ohio House restored previous funding to mass transit and added more. The additional funds could be used to bolster that budget even more.

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