The American Rescue Plan is more than stimulus checks.
Indeed, the legislation signed last month by President Joe Biden has implications big and small for our country, and the state of Kansas. The $1.9 trillion bill aims to stimulate the economy, of course, but it also targets funds to achieve important goals for children and families.
At Kansas Action for Children, we’ve been keeping a close eye on provisions that intersect with our work on behalf of the littlest Kansans. Here are a few examples.
Child care
We’ve all seen how essential child care is for Kansas families and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, even before that, many Kansas families did not have access to high-quality child care, either because there were too few slots available or the price tag on such care was too high. Meanwhile, the child care workforce is aging, pay is both low and stagnant, and new professionals aren’t entering the field.
The American Rescue Plan finally fulfills the promise of earlier pandemic relief packages. It sends $39 billion to the child care sector (more than $50 billion if those earlier down payments are included). In Kansas, that means $133.7 million in expanded child care assistance, and $213.9 million toward child care stabilization funds, according to our partners at the Center for Law and Social Policy. Altogether, the state will receive some $347.6 million to support the field.
While the concept of child care assistance should be familiar, the stabilization funds are new.
CLASP notes the funds will be administered by state agencies and “can support providers who are currently operating or are closed for COVID-related reasons.” They can also help build up crucial supplies.
“These funds can stabilize child care programs by covering a range of expenses such as personnel costs, rent, facility maintenance and improvements, personal protective equipment and COVID-related supplies, goods and services needed to resume providing care, mental health supports for children and early educators, and reimbursement of costs associated with the current public health emergency,” according to CLASP.
The sector has been badly buffeted by the pandemic, losing one in six jobs. With this support, providers will have access to funding they need to stay open or re-open — so the rest of our economy can, too.
Health care
We’ve watched for years in Kansas as leaders refused to expand the state’s Medicaid program. Expansion has always been the right thing to do, for moral, financial and practical reasons.
At KAC, we’ve been particularly concerned because an increasing number of Kansas kids remain uninsured — an estimated 43,000 in 2019. While most of these kids may already qualify for Medicaid or CHIP, expanding Medicaid is critical to reversing the trend. Studies show that when parents qualify and sign up for insurance programs, like Medicaid, it is more likely they will enroll their kids as well. Also, when parents are insured, kids are more likely to receive regular checkups and preventive care.
The American Rescue Plan should end any debate. It adds serious money for states that haven’t yet expanded the program. For a two-year period, newly expanding states would receive a 5-percentage point increase in their federal match rate for enrollees in existing Medicaid, resulting in a much larger amount than necessary to pay for expansion.
By expanding Medicaid, Kansas could unlock hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding. Estimates show Kansas could receive $330 million to $450 million over two years.
