Clyburn: Federal plan to mean real rescue

Jul. 15—SANTEE — Congressman James Clyburn held a public meeting Tuesday evening in the town he calls home in South Carolina.

The U.S. Majority Whip held the Help is Here Town Hall at the Santee Conference Center.

The town hall served as a one-stop shop for citizens in Orangeburg and surrounding areas to learn about a new tax credit and Medicaid expansion, discuss various issues and get vaccinated.

Clyburn spoke to a large crowd about the American Rescue Plan, specifically detailing the Child Tax Credit, Medicaid expansion and health care. Clyburn also spoke on the pandemic and vaccination rates.

The congressman said the CTC will reduce poverty numbers across America.

"Here's what the experts have said. The Child Tax Credit goes to every family if you've got children under 6, you get $3,600 per child. If they are over 6 up to 17, you will get $3,000 per child," Clyburn said.

"The experts say that of all the children in the United States of America currently living in poverty, as a result of this bill, half of them will be immediately lifted out of poverty," Clyburn said.

The funds will be released by the IRS beginning July 15. Payments will be made monthly.

Representatives of the IRS were present to answer questions regarding the tax credit and other issues.

"The percentage of children in the 6th Congressional District that will receive the CTC — 92.1% in this district. That's 136,000 children," Clyburn said.

"So many people went into poverty because of COVID-19, so this is the American Rescue Act," Clyburn said.

Provisions in the American Rescue Plan will also give citizens relief from the high costs associated with health care.

"It lowers health care insurance costs for 9 million Americans who are buying their health care insurance through Healthcare.gov. It saves an average of $50 per person, per month. It benefits over 230,000 South Carolinians. It reduces deductibles for new coverage by 90%," Clyburn said.

Clyburn is also working to expand Medicaid in South Carolina, which is one of 12 states to refuse expansion of the program that provides health care coverage to low-income people.

Clyburn said the expansion would greatly impact the affordability of nursing home care.

"If we were to expand Medicaid in South Carolina — $600 million in federal funds over the next two years. That's a lot of money that'll pay for a lot of infrastructure. We will have fewer uninsured residents, and we will reduce the racial health disparities that exist in South Carolina if we expand Medicaid," Clyburn said.

The expansion impacts low- and middle-income citizens, Clyburn said.

Clyburn also encouraged citizens to continue getting vaccinated. Attendees and others had the opportunity to get vaccinated at the event.

Two mobile vaccination stations were located outside the center. The vaccines were facilitated by Family Health Centers Inc.

"I thought it was important to add the vaccinations to this. Originally we were not. We were going to just focus on the American Rescue Act, but in recent days, we see numbers going up and vaccinations going down. And it's pretty clear according to the reports that I've seen, 99.5% of all the people that are contracting the virus now seem to be people who have not been vaccinated," Clyburn said.

"The administration ... by July 4th wanted 70% of the people in the country to be vaccinated, and we didn't get there. We got to 67%. South Carolina is right around 41%, and of course, I'm pretty concerned about that," Clyburn said.

Clyburn is the chair of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.

"It is my job to make sure the monies spent on the coronavirus are efficiently spent, effectively spent and equitably spent," Clyburn said.

Contact the writer: bharris@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-596-6530

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