Back in March, Congress passed the last big stimulus bill which was signed by President Joe Biden and gave direct payments to most people amounting to $1, 400. Aside from this support, plenty of tax changes were also put in place to help Americans struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. A temporary expansion of the federal Child Tax Credit was also approved.
Now, more financial support is coming to a particular group of workers who are distinctively affected by the pandemic. The money will be for farmworkers and meatpackers. $700 million was reserved for these workers. At least $20 million of the $700 million is intended for grocery store workers.
The money is from the Consolidated Appropriate Act of 2021, Local 12 reported.
Also Read: What You Should Do If You Did Not Receive Any Or All Federal Stimulus Checks
“This relief is intended to defray costs for reasonable and necessary personal, family, or living expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as costs for personal protective equipment (PPE), dependent care, and expenses associated with quarantines and testing related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the USDA said.
The program was announced in early September by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsak.
“As we celebrate the social and economic achievements of our nation’s workers on Labor Day, we recognize that our farmworkers, meat packing workers, and grocery workers overcame unprecedented challenges and took on significant personal risk to ensure Americans could feed and sustain their families throughout the pandemic,” Vilsack said in a news release.
“They deserve recognition for their resilience and financial support for their efforts to meet personal and family needs while continuing to provide essential services. This grant program is another component of this Administration’s efforts to ensure assistance to alleviate the effects of the pandemic is distributed to those who need it most,” he added.
The workers will get the cash after it gets to the hands of state agencies, tribal entities, and nonprofit organizations in the form of grants. They will be the ones to distribute the money to the workers.
The groups who are applying for these grants will have to show that they can reach workers who are difficult to contact.
The government is currently working on the application process for the program.
