TORONTO—Furious criticism of new anti-pandemic powers that allow police in Ontario to stop any motorist or pedestrian and ask where they live and why they’re not home prompted the provincial government on Saturday to reconsider the measures.
As the number of infected people in hospital reached record levels, Premier Doug Ford tweeted that the measures, which also included shutting down all outdoor recreational facilities and playgrounds, would be clarified.
“Ontario’s enhanced restrictions were always intended to stop large gatherings where spread can happen,” Ford said. “Our regulations will be amended to allow playgrounds, but gatherings outside will still be enforced.”
Earlier, a government source speaking on background told The Canadian Press that a “clarification” of the police powers was pending final approval.
“We have heard a lot of feedback on this in the last 24 hours in terms of the scope and applicability,” said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Civil libertarians, and pundits have attacked new anti-pandemic restrictions announced Friday by Ford as misguided.
The added police powers aimed at enforcing stay-at-home orders, they said, were overkill.
The closing of outdoor spaces puzzled many public health experts, who said the measures didn’t make sense.
“Outdoor activities are vital for mental and physical health, especially with stay-at-home orders,” Dr. Isaac Bogoch, who sits on the province’s COVID?19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force, said in a tweet.
“Science is clear: Outdoor COVID transmission is extremely rare.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki calls on a reporter during a press briefing in the White House in Washington on April 16, 2021. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo) Executive Branch
President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday shifted its portrayal of ongoing discussions with Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, acknowledging no formal agreements were reached on those countries building up their forces at their respective borders.
There was no “formal agreement,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington.
“We never described it as a formal declaration or a formal agreement, but additional steps that they were taking to increase personnel at the border. And those are steps you can confirm with those countries that they have taken,” she added.
Earlier in the week, Psaki said it was fair to say that agreements with the three countries were struck recently, in the past few weeks.
“There have been a series of bilateral discussions between our leadership and the regional governments of Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala. Through those discussions, there was a commitment, as you mentioned, to increase border security,” she told a reporter at the White House.
Tyler Moran, special assistant to the president for immigration for the Domestic Policy Council, went on MSNBC that same day and said the administration “secured agreements for them to put more troops on their own border,” adding, “Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala have all agreed to do this.”
Mexican Marines patrol at the banks of the Suchiate River in Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas state, Mexico, border with Tecun Uman, Guatemala, on Jan. 19, 2021. (Isaac Guzman/AFP via Getty Images)
But Guatemala told citizens that there was “no document signed” with the United States, saying it had already sent the 1,500 personnel Psaki mentioned to its border in January. Mexican officials said in late March they were increasing the troop level at its borders slightly while Honduran officials stated there “was no commitment” to put more soldiers in place to disrupt migration.
U.S. State Department officials seemed to contradict others in Biden administration, including during a congressional hearing on Wednesday.
“No, there were no agreements concluded with governments regarding border security,” Ricardo Zuniga, the special envoy for the northern triangle, told Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas).
“We do agree that it is very important to continue to work together, to collaborate, to manage migration, in a way that enhances the security of every country and allows governments to enforce their borders, just as the United States does,” he added.
A State Department spokeswoman also told The Washington Free Beacon that “no agreements have been established.”
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said in a tweet that the White House “needs to come clean about this.”
“This is a series of bold-faced lies,” Issa added to the Free Beacon. “The [Biden administration] has deliberately said something that wasn’t true affecting foreign policy. … He’s taking credit for what is the unilateral efforts of these countries to deal with the crisis that he’s created for them.”
President Joe Biden speaks to the media during a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on April 13, 2021. (Pete Marovich/Pool/Getty Images) Executive Branch
President Joe Biden has for the first time described the recent surge of illegal immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border as a crisis, in the midst of Republican-led pressure to do so.
Over the weekend, Biden was asked by a reporter in Delaware about his policy on refugee admissions.
“We’re going to increase the number [of refugees allowed into the country]. The problem was that the refugee part was working on the crisis that ended up on the border with young people,” Biden said in response. “We couldn’t do two things at once. But now we are going to increase the number.”
There has been a public-relations battle on the language surrounding the unprecedented surge at the southern border since Biden took office. Republicans have pressed Biden and White House officials to refer to the situation as a crisis, while his surrogates have refused to do so, preferring to call it a “challenge.” Some news outlets, including The Associated Press, have told their editors and reporters not to refer to the surge as a “crisis.”
Data provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) showed that agents have apprehended 172,000 illegal aliens along the border in March, leading Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, to say it is “the biggest surge that we’ve ever seen in the history of the Border Patrol.”
Republican lawmakers and governors have accused Biden of facilitating the border crisis by reversing several of President Donald Trump’s orders meant to curb illegal immigration, including border wall construction and the “Remain in Mexico” policy. The governments of Mexico and Guatemala have also faulted the Biden White House for sending out what they have said is mixed messaging on immigration.
“I’m nobody to make a judgment here, but I believe in the first weeks in the Biden administration, messages were confusing,” Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said in an interview with MSNBC last week. “They were compassionate messages that were understood by people in our country, especially to coyotes [border smugglers] to tell families, ‘We’ll take the children, the children can go in, and once they’re there, the children can call their parents.’”
On April 16, the Biden administration released a memo to keep in place the Trump-era 15,000 cap on refugees who can be allowed into the United States.
Hours later, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki issued a statement reversing the administration’s announcement and asserted that the order was “the subject of some confusion.” The statement was posted after left-wing members of Congress, including “Squad” members Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), criticized the administration’s move.
The Epoch Times reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for comment.
Although YouTube would likely permit the following little song, since they did remove a LAME for content a short time time ago, well, I just don’t feel comfortable using their CENSORED PLATFORM for any new offerings of “Lew’s Almost Music Expression”. None of them are important anyway as I am only one of millions of citizens within this country who have had their Constitutional Rights denied compliments of obvious election fraud and ballot manipulation conducted by elements of the Democrat party and their leftist supporters in the private sector.
What is done is done but I am not comfortable continuing with such an Anti-American organization and philosophy where a PRIVATE COMPANY can censor such publicly presented material but hey, after all, it is their their private platform so the US CONSTITUTION does not apply. OK.
Since I do not have the server space like YouTube for the large video/audio file, please accept only the lyrics. (Heck there’s always a silver lining, yeah? ……look at the bright side of this ANTI-AMERICAN CENSORSHIP by private corporations – your imagined music is no doubt better than what I was going to present using YouTube anyway! lol)
Sick of watching TV news Long needles stuck in arms To prevent infection And COVID related harm
Even as a small child Never cared much to watch Going to get stuck anyway I saw what silver tray brought
Then that sterile alcohol smell A cold wet wipe or swab Any moment I would feel …. Yeeow! “All done – it’s over – good job”
Not bad at all I’ve thought for decades That whole needle must not go in But thanks to COVID news videos As an old man now watch and cringe.
Up to the hilt that slender spike A rubber bumper stops the drill Can no longer ignore or just pretend It’s ALL THE WAY IN for real!
Then-President Donald Trump participates in the Salute to the Heroes of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection in the East Room at the White House in Washington on Aug. 20, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Social Media
Facebook’s Supreme Court equivalent is set to announce its decision on whether to overturn the suspension of former President Donald Trump in weeks, it announced on Friday.
The independent Oversight Board, which has the power to overrule Facebook, is reviewing the technology giant’s January move to indefinitely suspend Trump from the social media platform.
The board typically rules on cases within 90 days of referrals. Facebook referred the ban to the board on Jan. 21.
“The Board will announce its decision on the case concerning former US President Trump’s indefinite suspension from Facebook and Instagram in the coming weeks. We extended the public comments deadline for this case, receiving 9,000+ responses,” the board said in its new statement.
“The Board’s commitment to carefully reviewing all comments has extended the case timeline, in line with the Board’s bylaws. We will share more information soon.”
Members of the public were told on Jan. 29 that they could submit comments on the suspension by Feb. 8.
Five members of the board are reviewing the case, but their decision must be signed off by a majority of the board.
Facebook initially blocked Trump from his account on Jan. 7, a day after a group that included some of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington. “We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at the time, claiming that Trump decided “to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building.”
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies at a Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees Joint Hearing in Washington on April 10, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
In one video, Trump told people who stormed the Capitol to “go home peacefully” but also said “we love you” and “you’re very special.”
Facebook later said Trump was banned indefinitely. The company has since moved to scrub any content “posted in the voice of Donald Trump,” such as an interview conducted by his daughter-in-law.
Trump has called his remarks in the wake of the breach “totally appropriate.”
Big Tech, which includes Facebook, is “doing a horrible thing to our country,” he added while speaking to reporters while still in office, calling the suspension “a catastrophic mistake.”
Trump is working on a social media alternative to Facebook, former and current advisers have said. The ex-president enjoyed a large following on Facebook and Twitter, which also banned him.
While Trump could be allowed back on Facebook, Twitter’s chief financial officer, Ned Segal, said earlier this year that he will never be able to rejoin the platform, even if he runs for president in 2024.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki calls on a reporter during a press briefing in the White House in Washington on April 16, 2021. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo) Executive Branch
President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday shifted its portrayal of ongoing discussions with Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, acknowledging no formal agreements were reached on those countries building up their forces at their respective borders.
There was no “formal agreement,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington.
“We never described it as a formal declaration or a formal agreement, but additional steps that they were taking to increase personnel at the border. And those are steps you can confirm with those countries that they have taken,” she added.
Earlier in the week, Psaki said it was fair to say that agreements with the three countries were struck recently, in the past few weeks.
“There have been a series of bilateral discussions between our leadership and the regional governments of Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala. Through those discussions, there was a commitment, as you mentioned, to increase border security,” she told a reporter at the White House.
Tyler Moran, special assistant to the president for immigration for the Domestic Policy Council, went on MSNBC that same day and said the administration “secured agreements for them to put more troops on their own border,” adding, “Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala have all agreed to do this.”
Mexican Marines patrol at the banks of the Suchiate River in Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas state, Mexico, border with Tecun Uman, Guatemala, on Jan. 19, 2021. (Isaac Guzman/AFP via Getty Images)
But Guatemala told citizens that there was “no document signed” with the United States, saying it had already sent the 1,500 personnel Psaki mentioned to its border in January. Mexican officials said in late March they were increasing the troop level at its borders slightly while Honduran officials stated there “was no commitment” to put more soldiers in place to disrupt migration.
U.S. State Department officials seemed to contradict others in Biden administration, including during a congressional hearing on Wednesday.
“No, there were no agreements concluded with governments regarding border security,” Ricardo Zuniga, the special envoy for the northern triangle, told Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas).
“We do agree that it is very important to continue to work together, to collaborate, to manage migration, in a way that enhances the security of every country and allows governments to enforce their borders, just as the United States does,” he added.
A State Department spokeswoman also told The Washington Free Beacon that “no agreements have been established.”
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said in a tweet that the White House “needs to come clean about this.”
“This is a series of bold-faced lies,” Issa added to the Free Beacon. “The [Biden administration] has deliberately said something that wasn’t true affecting foreign policy. … He’s taking credit for what is the unilateral efforts of these countries to deal with the crisis that he’s created for them.”
Well, perhaps this is the reason the LDPCSD refuses to provide the 1993 MERCED IRRIGATION DISTRICT SHAPE FILE MAP which former GM/Treasurer PETER KAMPA fraudulently used to RECONFIGURE THE LDPCSD’s WATER SERVICE AREA ….. so as to include all the LAFCO ANNEXATIONS (Tuolumne and Mariposa county Local Agency Formation Commissions) Kampa surreptitiously orchestrated twenty years ago without LDPCSD Board authority (1994-1997) – much less knowledge? What’s to prevent the same thing from happening again? And again? And again?
A SPECIAL BENEFIT WATER SERVICE SHOULD BE FUNDED BY THOSE WHO REQUIRE THE SPECIAL BENEFIT – DUH!
I have no problem with the district providing a special benefit water service to properties outside water license 11395 (which restricts MERCED RIVER WATER service to the subdivision and golf course area as planned) so long as those special benefit using LAFCO ANNEXED PROPERTY OWNERS PAY FOR ALL THE ADDITIONAL COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT “SPECIAL BENEFIT BLENDED GROUNDWATER SERVICE” (necessary to circumvent 11395 POU restrictions) water which must be produced from 1/2 million dollar groundwater wells.
A “STANDBY FEE” MEANT ENTITLED….. “AVAILABILITY” MEANS “MAYBE” IF OTHER THAN MERCED RIVER WATER
Subdivision property owners have been paying for district water since the beginning, either through consumptive use of water or the anticipated future use and most of those properties don’t use water but still pay a STANDBY FEE on their property taxes. The STANDBY FEE meant that at ANY TIME UPON THE OWNERS REQUEST THEY WOULD BE FURNISHED WATER SERVICE THEY HAD BEEN “STANDBY-PAYING” for years. Then the STANDBY FEE was renamed “AVAILABILITY FEE” to obscure the difference between THOSE ENTITLED TO WATER (STANDBY) and those the district furnished a special benefit and more expensive water service while the majority of ENTITLED WATER USERS paid for all additional costs of that special benefit groundwater service outside the PLACE OF USE for Merced River water in the subdivision (thus “availability fee”).
WHAT A SCAM. Last time (the second PETER KAMPA TOUR OF DUTY 2014-2019) they drilled for water it was quite a financial loss for 13 “dusters”! (No water, or the lack of quality potable water). How much money per a dry well hole? Customers were told at the time between $15,000 – $20,000, likely that cost has not gone down.
So here we go again only continuing the Peter Kampa delusion of “a foothill water empire” for all the LAFCO annexed property plans……develop more OUTSIDE PLACE OF USE PROPERTIES (COUNTY LAFCO ANNEXATIONS INTO DISTRICT – in violation to their own operating regulations) then develop more extremely expensive groundwater wells in a drought prone area to supply more water. Misuse of more government grant money to circumvent clear water license restrictions. Any surprise even our ELECTIONS ARE NOW NOTHING BUT FRAUD?
WHERE WILL THE WATER FROM THESE PROPOSED NEW GROUND WELLS GO? Hummm…. I wonder – NOT!
Last time the plan included several new residential subdivisions adjacent to the original Sierra Highlands Water Company subdivision, which was later renamed the Lake Don Pedro subdivision. Gosh….why did Boise Cascade abandon all its groundwater wells 40 years ago? Can you imagine attempting to support the water consumption of more subdivisions in a drought prone area where groundwater wells are unreliable and extremely expensive while the owners within the Lake Don Pedro subdivision (who don’t need a “blended water” for ENTITLED SERVICE) pay for all the extra costs?
WHY NO MORE WATER SERVICE FOR FUTURE HOMES ON AN ENTITLED LAKE DON PEDRO SUBDIVISION LOT?
What is the district going to do when there isn’t enough water to supply the 3,000+ residential subdivision properties whose owners have been paying a “STANDBY FEE” since day one?
Lake Don Pedro subdivision property owners are only the DEEP POCKET FOR THIS CONTINUING WATER SCAM LOCAL COUNTY GOVERNMENTS AND LAFCOs CREATED YET CONTINUE TO IGNORE. (Pssst! Hiding past LAFCO annexation paperwork doesn’t make the resulting problem go away.)
This continuing and UNETHICAL SUBSIDIZED SPECIAL BENEFIT GROUNDWATER SUBSTITUTION PROGRAM FOR LAFCO ANNEXATIONS sure does distract from the wonderful accomplishments that have taken place with GM/Treasurer McGowan at the helm. Sure hope he is not part of a continuing betrayal of entitled customers.
Below is the next LDPCSD meeting agenda and packet. What do you think?
What do you think considering some of the “bonehead” decisions coming out of Washington DC? Decisions and policies that are clearly detrimental to OUR UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and ALL HER LEGAL CITIZENS? Policies made possible due to the greatest election fraud ever perpetrated against LEGAL VOTING US CITIZENS which intentionally placed a mentally impaired, ethically compromised crony sellout politician in the White House. A traitor completely surrounded, encouraged and manipulated by radical leftists focused on destroying OUR FREEDOM LOVING COUNTRY so as to reconfigure it into what?
The awakening has occurred but what will follow?
May God continue to Bless the USA and ALL HER CITIZENS and have mercy on those who sought/seek HER destruction.
The Hong Kong government has started COVID-19 vaccination for priority groups including people over 60 years old on Feb. 26. The picture shows two local officials being vaccinated with Chinese-made Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine. (Song Bilong/The Epoch Times) Vaccines & Safety
Hong Kong authorities confirmed on April 11 that another citizen died after receiving the China-made COVID-19 vaccine Sinovac. The government did not report the death until local media inquired about it. To date, 14 people in Hong Kong have died after receiving Sinovac and 13 have developed facial paralysis.
16 Deaths and 15 Cases of Facial Paralysis
On April 11, the Hong Kong Drainage Services Department (DSD) confirmed that a 58-year-old male employee fell unconscious at work on April 8 and died after being sent to hospital. The man had been vaccinated with Sinovac on March 16. The government did not voluntarily announce the death and confirmed the case only after the media inquired on April 11, causing public suspicion of intentional concealment.
To date, 16 Hong Kongers have died after being vaccinated in the past six weeks: 14 received the Sinovac vaccine and two received the BioNTech vaccine jointly developed by China and Germany. In addition, the Department of Health said that by April 4, it had received 15 reports of suspected facial paralysis after vaccination, of which 13 received the Sinovac vaccine and two received BioNtech vaccine.
With so many serious anomalies and deaths, Hong Kong people have become reluctant to get the Sinovac vaccine. Only 2,500 people received a first dose of Sinovac vaccine on April 11, the lowest number since vaccinations began 45 days ago, the government reported on the night of April 11.
Carrie Lam Threatens ‘Consequences’
As of April 12, about 597,400 Hong Kong residents have received a first dose of vaccine, less than 10 percent of the population.
However, when trying to boost the take-up rate, Chief Executive Carrie Lam did not appear to reflect on the safety of domestic vaccines. Instead, she proposed a series of “incentives” to encourage inoculation, such as relaxing restrictions for residents who have been fully vaccinated.
For example, restaurant staff and customers need to be vaccinated before restrictions on those businesses can be lessened. Lam also stressed that citizens who do not get the vaccine will have “consequences.”
Gordon Lam, the convenor of the Hong Kong Small and Middle Restaurant Federation, questioned in a Facebook post, “Vaccination, which should be an individual choice, is now a privilege to enter a restaurant. How much does the government want to use vaccinations as leverage to get restaurants back in business so that it forces citizens to get vaccinations which have not yet been fully proven to work?”
Hong Kong resident Mr. Wong told The Epoch Times that he didn’t get vaccinated because he didn’t have confidence in the safety of the vaccine. He believes that the Hong Kong government is acting like a gangster, which makes the public even more disgusted.
In March, Han Zheng, the CCP vice premier in charge of Hong Kong and Macao affairs, met with Lam and asked her to “take epidemic prevention and control as the central task” in addition to changing Hong Kong’s electoral system. A politician told Apple Daily that what Lam has been doing is “hand over her homework” to the central government, by using intimidation and money to lure citizens into vaccination to boost the vaccination rate, in the hope of winning credits from Beijing and gaining an edge in her re-election campaign.
Chinese Report Adverse Reactions through Unofficial Channels
While Hong Kong has reported death cases and serious side effects from COVID-19 vaccination, in mainland China, where approximately 160 million people have received vaccines, the authorities have not disclosed any negative post-vaccination cases.
Chinese social media and overseas Chinese media have become the only channels for Chinese citizens to share the side-effects they experience or witness.
On April 14, a Chinese citizen spoke to Sound of Hope, a sister radio network of The Epoch Times, and exposed that two weeks ago, a man died on the same day he received COVID-19 vaccine, leaving behind three children.
The victim, Wang Dajun, 43, lived in Lingxi Village, Zhuanghe City, Liaoning Province. According to the person who spoke to Sound of Hope, Wang received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in late March and died that evening. Local authorities have since strictly blocked the flow of such information.
Sound of Hope was able to reach a female resident in Lingxi Village by phone, who verified the information. “Wang was in his forties and was very healthy. He received the vaccination around 10 a.m. that day, and died in the evening,” she said. “He left behind three children, two teenage girls and a 4-year-old son who is a kindergartener. No one in our area dares to get vaccinated anymore.”
Ling Zhenbo, a resident of Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, revealed to Radio Free Asia that when he was at the vaccination site, he saw a person collapse to the ground after inoculation. “Other people wanted to take pictures of the incident, but the authorities on-site forbade them to do so. I believe there must be other cases of inoculation side-effects in China, but the media are forbidden to report them.”
Liang Wei from Beijing (not his real name), revealed on Chinese social media that his wife collapsed 10 minutes after getting a shot. She was rushed to China-Japan Friendship Hospital for emergency treatment, and gradually regained consciousness. Liang complained that “the vaccination staff acted as if injection was their only responsibility and they don’t do anything if a recipient runs into problems. When my wife passed out, they did not even attempt to help, like arranging a fast-path hospital admission for her. I had to wait in line and go over the procedures at the hospital myself. And all the hospital costs were out of my own pocket.”
His post on Chinese social media was soon deleted by the Chinese authorities. Another Beijing resident who took notice of the post later shared the incident with Radio Free Asia.
According to Internal documents obtained by The Epoch Times, even local officials and public servants do not trust China’s domestic vaccines, and they use various excuses to avoid having the mandatory vaccination.
For instance, in Xintai Town of Tai’an County, Liaoning Province, there are 65 officials and staff in the township government. Only three people were vaccinated and two others were waiting to receive the vaccine, all others used various excuses to dodge the mandatory vaccination, such as allergies, high blood pressure, heart disease, or planning to get pregnant this year.
In Tai’an County’s Housing and Development Bureau, only one person took the vaccine, the other 55 refused to receive it by claiming that they have underlying health issues.
Democrats have killed millions with their policies. Millions of American people are broke and are suffering under the Biden Harris fly by night regime. Talking points and the press have swallowed up the truth. The fog rolls in and the fire, smoke, and haze covers the country with menusha, half truth, weakness, and utter fantasy. Biden is following a Hollywood script written by professional Communist writers and movie makers. Democrats OWN the press. They OWN Social Media. And still the majority of Americans know these Democrats are stacking the deck and rigging the game, but they have to much respect for the law to fight back against the dishonorable Democratic Party.
_________
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on Russia at the White House in Washington on April 15, 2021. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images) Executive Branch
Biden Admin Releases $39 Billion From Stimulus Package to Address ‘Child Care Crisis’
The White House on Thursday announced that it is releasing $39 billion in funding for states to address the “child care crisis” with the money to come from the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill President Joe Biden signed into law last month.
The Biden administration said the $39 billion is aimed at addressing the “acute, immediate child care crisis” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and will help early childhood educators and family child care providers keep their doors open.
Split into two parts, the initiative will see $24 billion will go to providers as part of a stabilization fund to help “child care providers to reopen or stay open, provide safe and healthy learning environments, keep workers on payroll, and provide mental health supports for educators and children.”
The other part will provide $15 billion in more flexible funding “for states to make child care more affordable for more families, increase access to high-quality care for families receiving subsidies.”
Vice President Kamala Harris called the funding the “single largest investment in child care in the nation’s history.”
Last year, $15 billion in child care relief was provided as part of COVID-19 relief packages under the Trump administration.
“For many, many people and many women in particular, child care has often been the prerequisite for their ability to work, and for many others, child care is their work, and that’s why in America, child care should be readily available and affordable for all of those who need it,” Harris said.
The White House said the funds are “a critical step to pave the way for a strong economic recovery and a more equitable future.”
“These providers have been on the front lines caring for the children of essential workers and support parents, especially mothers, who want to get back to work,” the White House said in its announcement.
The Biden administration said that it expects the funding will benefit hundreds of thousands of child care providers and early childhood educators.
“In America, child care should be readily available and affordable for all of those who need it, child care workers should be paid fairly and treated with dignity and respect, and small business owners who run child care centers must be fully supported,” Harris added.
It will also include an expansion of the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. As part of the stimulus, the credit was increased to $3,000 per child from ages six to 17, and $3,600 for children under six. It was made fully refundable, and payable in monthly installments of $300. Before this, the maximum annual credit was $2,000 for every child under 17.
Some experts have called the funding a move toward universal basic income.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Tuesday that Biden wants to make the Child Tax Credit permanent, beyond the pandemic.
“He believes there’s a lot of proposals out there, including from Senator Romney, to work to ensure there’s longer-term assistance through the Child Tax Credit,” she told reporters. “And he believes it’s also one of the ways that we can help address the number of women—working women—who have moved out of the workforce,” she added. “But we just have to find a vehicle, and we’re having those discussions with Congress.”
The White House said that more guidance on the funds will be released in the coming weeks.
