President-elect Biden released a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal on Thursday that would extend a variety of assistance measures slated to expire in the short-term, while millions of Americans will still be facing severe health and economic hardships.

The substantial, two-step plan will significantly reduce the inequities COVID-19 has exacerbated, particularly within Black and brown communities. Given the urgency of the surging virus and economic recession, the President-elect’s American Rescue Plan will do the following:

• Provide substantial rental & utility assistance to help families stay housed and afford their heating and cooling bills, and give funding to help people experiencing homelessness.
• Extend the federal moratorium on evictions through September and call on Congress to fund legal assistance programs for people facing eviction.
• Fund SNAP benefits through at least September, which will help millions of families have enough to eat. In late December, 29 million adults reported that their household often or sometimes did not have enough to eat in the previous week, up by 7 million since August.
• Extend unemployment benefits for millions of people through at least September, and increase the amount of paid sick days and family/medical leave for workers affected by COVID-19.
• Expand the Child Tax Credit & Earned Income Tax Credit to help millions of low-income families make ends meet, which is especially critical in helping low-income Black and Latino workers, many of whom serve in essential jobs yet have seen reduced earnings this year. 

For a thorough overview of this emergency relief proposal, read more from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities here.