What Happened in Washington
For this first week, we will highlight a piece of the COVID bill, the racial equity covid task force's announcement, and a grant opportunity linked to health in our communities.
This a sense, one piece of this bill is moving and its kind of provisions. It should also be noted that it was written by a black member of congress Representative Bobby Rush.
House Democrats have advanced their $170 billion proposals for new coronavirus relief funding for schools. For the K-12 schools: The bill includes $130 billion to help public K-12 schools reopen during the pandemic. School districts would be required to set aside at least 20 percent of their funding allocation to address learning loss during the pandemic. That could include funding to support summer learning programs or extending the school day or school year.
This is the first of several bills that will compose the overall Covid Relief Package of $1.9 trillion. We will have to wait to see the other pieces as they come out. But those far, we are getting an idea of where congress is going to take the legislation.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to plague the country, it has had a disproportionate impact on some of our most vulnerable communities. Shortly after COVID-19 was first identified in the United States, disparities in testing, cases, hospitalizations, and mortality began to emerge. These inequities were quickly evident by race, ethnicity, geography, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other factors.
Grant opportunities that could be a link for the pride do for the community.
The American Heart Association will invest over $230 million over the next four years to support targeted initiatives and programs that remove barriers to equitable health care. The organization will invest at least $100 million through its Social Impact Fund to address targeted, community-level health equity barriers and another $100 million in a scientific research program to focus on evidence-based solutions to health inequities and structural racism.