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9/18/2021

New Blog Post by Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo on Centering American Rescue Plan Implementation on Racial Eq…

New Blog Post by Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo on Centering
American Rescue Plan Implementation on Racial Equity
September 17, 2021

WASHINGTON – Today U.S. Department of the Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo
published a new blog post detailing the department’s work to put racial equity front and
center in its first six months of implementing the American Rescue Plan. The American
Rescue Plan represents an unprecedented opportunity for both immediate recovery e orts
and lasting, generational investments in vulnerable communities across the country and
Treasury is employing a combination of policymaking, outreach, and operations to ensure
this potential is achieved.
“Long before most of us had ever heard the word “coronavirus,” this country had su ered
from a profound racial wealth gap that makes it harder for communities of color to weather
economic downturns, from the pandemic to the financial crisis more than a decade ago,”
writes Deputy Secretary Adeyemo. “The Biden Administration has made promoting racial
equity a top priority since Day 1, and nowhere is that clearer than in the American Rescue
Plan. Over the past six months, our team at Treasury has worked closely with the White
House to implement this historic legislation, put these priorities into action, and pave the
road to inclusive recovery that we’ve been walking since.”
Since the law was signed by President Biden in March, the Treasury Department has
disbursed approximately $700 billion of the $1 trillion in programs administered by Treasury.
This includes over $450 billion paid directly to families and households, including through
more than 170 million Economic Impact Payments totaling over $400 billion, over 106 million
Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments totaling more than $46 billion, and over 1 million payments
of Emergency Rental Assistance totaling more than $5 billion.
To ensure this historic assistance reaches underserved communities across the country,
Treasury stood up a new, dedicated O ice of Recovery Programs with dedicated leadership
and sta putting priorities like racial equity at the center of their work on the recovery every
day. That focus on equity is reflected in the O ice’s decision to hire full-time Tribal a airs
sta to help distribute tens of billions of ARP funds set aside for Tribal communities. This
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0363

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9/18/2021

New Blog Post by Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo on Centering American Rescue Plan Implementation on Racial Eq…

commitment has also flowed through the programs and policies administered by this O ice,
from nationwide programs that put financial resources in the hands of communities of color
today like the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which dedicates an additional $2.5
billion for very low-income households paying more than 50 percent of their income on rent
or living in substandard or overcrowded conditions, to initiatives like the $10 billion State
Small Business Credit Initiative and $9 billion Emergency Capital Investment Program that
will increase capital access in these communities and help create ecosystems of opportunity
and entrepreneurship over time.
A link to Deputy Secretary Adeyemo’s blog post is
here: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/American-Rescue-Plan-Centering-Equity-inPolicymaking.pdf
A link to Treasury’s recent report on the first 6 months of American Rescue Plan
implementation is here: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/American-Rescue-PlanSix-Month-Report.pdf

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https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0363

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