Brad's Newsletter

Last week's big news was President Biden signing the American Rescue Plan into law! (I am hosting a telephone town hall tonight to discuss the plan—see below for details.)

Job One for this Congress and the new Administration was always beat back this virus and lift up our nation. The American Rescue Plan will help us do just that. It's the bold response we need to get people back to work, help parents safely send their children back to school, and help small businesses build back their future.

The big news of the week is that the Senate passed President Biden's American Rescue Plan. Once signed into law, the American Rescue Plan will accelerate and expand the distribution of vaccines, will send direct payments to struggling American families, will extend unemployment insurance through the summer for those without jobs, give help to small businesses, provide resources for school to open and operate safely, and deliver resources to local governments and communities.

The sun is shining and the temperature is rising…it almost feels like spring. I hope you are able to get outside and enjoy a breath of fresh air.

While I don't have anything to do with the good weather, I do bring good news from Washington: President Biden's American Rescue Plan is moving through Congress. The $1.9 relief bill passed the House last Saturday at 2:05 AM. Assuming the Senate concludes its work this week, the bill should make it to the President's desk before unemployment benefits expire on March 14^th.

I suspect you are as happy as I am that it's starting to warm up a bit. I've seen two early signs of Spring: training camp has started for both the Cubs and the White Sox, and the robins have returned to my backyard bird feeder. Even better, we are seeing increasing supplies of vaccines, though we continue to need to accelerate getting shots in people's arms.

It's been another bitterly cold week in Illinois, and I hope you are staying warm and safe. Across our country, it's heart wrenching seeing so many people facing the cold without power and heat. Once more, we are facing unprecedented weather extremes making it even more abundantly clear that we need to urgently address climate change and invest in making our national infrastructure more resilient. Most press, however, is getting federal emergency assistance to those most severely affected the storms and their immediate impact.

First, I hope you and your loved ones continue to be safe and well and that you are managing the arctic blast this week.

February is Black History Month so I want to take a moment to reflect on some of the contributions that Black Americans have made to our democracy, culture and society.

Our nation has officially begun its next chapter! Over the course of our 245 years as a country, we've had our share of soaring highs and challenging lows. As we move forward, we certainly face our own set of daunting challenges, but as I have shared since the start of this pandemic, I remain confident that, working together, we can get past any obstacle and ensure our best days are in front of us.