Local Economists React to $1.9 Trillion Federal Relief Package

DULUTH, Minn.– With President Biden’s signing of the American Rescue Plan yesterday, many Americans are expecting stimulus payments in the coming weeks. But economists here say there’s more to the bill to serve local economies.

Monica Hayes, an economic expert at UMD, says the nearly $2 trillion federal relief package doesn’t just give checks to Americans. It includes funding for small businesses, PPP loans and extends unemployment benefits.

She says this federal boost will help local businesses like Duluth’s hospitality industry who may have suffered without additional aid a year into the pandemic.

“If you think about what the alternative is if there’s not a stimulus package or if there was too small of a stimulus package, a lot of businesses might go under.” and then that costs a whole lot more,” said Monica Haynes, Director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at UMD.

Hayes says another important aspect of the bill is an increased child tax credit allowing families to claim $3,600 per child under 6 and $3,000 for children up to 17 years old to help combat the economic challenges of the pandemic.