The “Stimnibus” – What’s in it for Moms?
Mom Congress
Photo: The Washington Post
By Whitney Pesek, JD
Mom Congress Advisory Board Member
In December Congress unveiled its COVID relief stimulus package (called the Stimibus since it addresed both the annual Omnibus budget bill and the COVID stimulus). The package scratched the surface of meeting the needs of mothers in the United States - who clearly have taken a significant portion of the brunt of the pandemic harm.
(Of note, since then, Biden's presidency was confirmed by Congress, and the Democrats secured majority/leadership in the Senate for the 117th congress).
The Federal COVID stimulus package couldn't come soon enough, as much of the benefits authorized in the Families First Act relief bill that passed in March expired at the end of the year.
Some highlights about the package and it's impact on mothers is detailed below:
The continuation of unemployment benefits and enhanced benefits at $300 per month.
A 15 percent increase in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for six months.
Expansion of the Pandemic EBT program to provide nutrition assistance to families with young children and to facilitate access for school-aged children.
A new round of $600 per adult and child economic stimulus payments to help families meet their basic needs. This round includes many mixed-status immigrant families previously excluded from relief and retroactively allows them to receive the previous CARES stimulus payments.
$10 billion in child care funds to support providers fighting to stay afloat due to increased costs and reduced enrollment, a fraction of the long-term need.
An extension of the national eviction moratorium through the end of January and funding for emergency rental assistance.
Continuation of the employer tax credits for employers who voluntarily provide paid sick days and paid family and medical leave for caregiving related to COVID 19. (However, Congress failed to extend the requirement that employers provide emergency paid leave to workers.)
A lookback provision that allows families to continue to receive the Earned Income Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit—essential income supports for families with low incomes—based on their 2019 income, so they do not receive a lesser credit if their earnings decreased.
$3 million for a Maternal Mental Health Hotline and continued $5 million for the Health and Human Services Agency (HRSA) to provide grants to states to develop telehealth infrastructure for Maternal Mental Health.
What Didn’t Make the Cut:
Maternal Health
Though originally a part of the negotiations, both the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act and the Helping Moms Act, both supported by Mom Congress, were not a part of the final bill package. Likely during negotiations anything that did not directly or indirectly not address the COVID crisis, were simply cut.
What Didn’t Go Far Enough:
Sick Leave
Unlike the Families First Act, this new legislation does not mandate paid sick or family leave, a change that will disproportionately affect working mothers. Women have been much more likely than men to use the paid leave benefits than men in households with children at home.
Child Care
The child care industry’s $10 billion is also much less than what is required to stop this critical infrastructure from crumbling. Child care centers are struggling to stay open without significant investment in safety precautions necessary to operate during a pandemic. Child care experts estimate it would take at least $56 billion to stabilize the industry that is mostly run by and employ women of color.
What Surprised Us:
More Help With Food Assistance
There is some good news; SNAP’s investment should make a meaningful difference in addressing the nation’s hunger crisis. More than one in four women with children in the home have reported struggling to feed their families. When families do not have enough to eat, most often, the mothers are the first to go without food.
The relief bill would allocate $13 billion to increase SNAP benefits — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — by 15 percent for six months. That would translate to about $25 each month per person in a household. It’s a meaningful benefit, especially since research shows that SNAP benefits are among the most effective policy interventions to combat hunger.
The bill also makes technical legislative changes to make it easier for families with small children to qualify for “Pandemic EBT” — a nutritional aid program for families whose children lost access to meals provided at schools or child care facilities that have gone remote. That could especially benefit the mothers who report being unable to feed their toddlers.