Harris County has redirected $20.8 million initially intended for the UPLIFT Harris program, a guaranteed income initiative for low-income residents, following legal challenges from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The county's strategic reallocation of funds now supports homelessness services, eviction prevention, and food insecurity through established organizations like the Houston Food Bank. The rebranded Harris County Community Prosperity Program aims to aid the same beneficiaries through community partners, ensuring continued support for those in need.

Time is running out for local governments to use billions of dollars of federal pandemic relief funds.

President Joe Biden is trying to spotlight how federal dollars are both helping cities and police departments manage crime, and providing job opportunities for youth in communities affected by that violence.

Vice President Kamala Harris has set the record for the most Senate tiebreaker votes, topping a nearly 200-year-old mark by casting her 32nd to help confirm a new federal judge in Washington, D.

Federal officials estimate that local governments now have spending plans in place for most of the money they received under a prominent pandemic relief law.

President Joe Biden's administration is starting a push to get Congress to fund measures to help prosecute fraud in government coronavirus pandemic relief programs.

President Joe Biden's administration is providing nearly $36 billion to shore up a financially troubled union pension plan.

President Joe Biden and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo are announcing $1 billion in federal grants for manufacturing, clean energy, farming, biotech and more.

Hundreds of tourism projects nationwide are collectively getting about $2.4 billion in federal coronavirus relief funding.

Individual health insurance rates are going up across the country.

President Biden calls on schools to leverage American Rescue Plan funds to expand programming and services to help students make up for lost learning time and succeed

The giant American Rescue Plan that provides $1.9 trillion in pandemic relief turns one year old on Friday.

It's been one year since President Joe Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan.

Judge Lina Hidalgo and Commissioner Adrian Garcia held a press conference Tuesday morning to discuss a new proposal to invest $7.9 million in American Rescue Plan funds for early childhood programs.

Under the Biden-Harris Administration, $8.2 million in American Rescue Plan funds has been awarded to support the health care workforce in Texas.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has told a gathering of America’s mayors the Biden administration’s coronavirus relief bill is “like a vaccine” preventing catastrophic economic damage.

President Joe Biden's administration is giving state and local governments greater flexibility in spending $350 billion in federal COVID-19 aid.

It’s one of the most far-reaching of all the federal aid programs launched during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many states and cities across the U.S. are getting off to a slow start in spending money from this year's coronavirus relief package championed by President Joe Biden and Democrats.

Amid a national debate over the use of pandemic relief funds, Alabama lawmakers swiftly approved a plan to tap $400 million to help build two super-size prisons.

The U.S. Department of Education approved Georgia’s plans to use $1.4 billion in federal coronavirus relief money.

Dozens of cities and counties and the state of California are experimenting with giving some low-income residents a guaranteed income of $500 to $1,000 each month to do with as they please, and tracking what happens.

While final details have not been hashed out, Galveston and Montgomery County officials announced they will send local resources to the southern border.

The Internal Revenue Service has launched two new online tools designed to help parents manage their monthly child tax credit payments.

Some states are making plans to spend billions of dollars from President Joe Biden's pandemic relief act, though the money has yet to arrive.

Every Republican in Congress voted against the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which President Joe Biden signed into law three months ago.

The Treasury Department is creating a new office to supervise the disbursement of the billions of dollars in relief money passed by Congress to combat the coronavirus-related recession.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is urging the adoption of a minimum global corporate income tax.

HOUSTON – If you collected unemployment in 2020, you could get a bigger tax refund. Usually, when you collect unemployment, you have to pay federal income tax on that money. This year, you do not have to pay taxes on $10,200 of those benefits if you earned less than $150,000. Mary Bynum emailed consumer expert Amy Davis, writing, “I collected unemployment in 2020 and filed my return and received my refund in mid-February. On the IRS website, the agency explains what forms you should use and file if you are doing your taxes yourself to get the tax break.

Yellen told members of the Financial Stability Oversight Council that she wants the panel to examine what needs to be done to better protect the financial system from further turmoil. “Almost exactly one year ago, the pandemic’s outbreak caused significant stress in the economy and in the financial system,” Yellen told the panel during its public session. AdYellen said the examination of last year’s financial market turmoil would include a review of potential reforms for money market mutual funds and the operation of hedge funds. Yellen said the council’s review would also address ways to make the Treasury securities market more resilient to future disruptions. “Our financial system must be prepared for the market and credit risks of these climate-related events.”

That's likely to be the case for Vice President Kamala Harris, who this week was named the new point person on immigration. This is definitely not a ceremonial task,” said Nina Rees, a former deputy assistant for domestic policy to Vice President Dick Cheney. Harris' team has clarified that the vice president does not own all of immigration policy. Kamarck's argument bucks the traditional wisdom, which says if a vice president does well on thorny issues, more credit goes to the president and, if not, it gives the president some political cover. The matter of who gets praise, or blame, is even trickier when it's clear the vice president has White House aspirations.

But due to the pandemic, the White House limited attendance and only 30 socially distanced chairs for journalists were spread out in the expansive room. “The press conference serves an important purpose: It presents the press an extended opportunity to hold a leader accountable for decisions,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, presidential scholar and professor of communication at the University of Pennsylvania. In less than a week, two mass shootings have rattled the nation and pressure has mounted on the White House to back tougher gun measures. The White House has struggled to blunt a nationwide effort by Republican legislatures to tighten election laws. In a sharp contrast with the previous administration, the Biden White House has exerted extreme message discipline, empowering staff to speak but doing so with caution.

Yellen and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell say more needs to be done to limit the damage from the coronavirus pandemic and promote a full economic recovery. AdResponding to a question from Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., Yellen said the persistence of low interest rates have changed her views on federal debt. Lower rates have made it easier for the federal government to cover the interest costs on the debt, she said. Under questioning from Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Yellen said Congress should allot more money to the IRS so the tax collection agency could reduce tax evasion. Ad“The tax gap is huge,” Yellen said, “and I think we would have a fairer tax system and collect more tax revenue without the need to raise (tax) rates if we resourced the IRS properly.”

Yellen and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell say more needs to be done to limit the damage from the coronavirus pandemic and promote a full economic recovery. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress on Tuesday that more must be done to limit the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic. Powell also reiterated that he does not expect programs aimed at reviving the economy will trigger unwanted inflation. Yellen said the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan held out the prospect of returning the country to full employment next year. AdYellen on Tuesday pledged a rapid rollout from the Treasury of the new relief plan.

The Treasury Department says it has sent out 90 million economic impact payments totaling $242 billion since President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief plan. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)WASHINGTON – The Treasury Department says it has sent out 90 million economic impact payments totaling $242 billion since President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief plan last week. Processing of the payments began last Friday, the day after Biden signed the American Rescue Plan, which authorized direct payments of up to $1,400 to qualifying individuals. Included were people who don't typically file a return but who used a non-filers tool at IRS.gov last year to be included in two earlier rounds of COVID-19 relief payments. No action is needed by most taxpayers to receive the payments, which will be automatic and similar to how people received their first and second round of economic impact payments in 2020.

Salazar, a small business owner for 30 years, told Harris that help from the Small Business Administration has "kept me afloat but more is needed.”In Pennsylvania, meanwhile, Smith Flooring had 23 employees during peak times but currently is employing 12 workers. In Washington, the Senate confirmed Isabel Guzman, Biden’s pick to lead the Small Business Administration on Tuesday. It’s a sharp turn from the start of the Biden administration, when vaccination goals were relatively modest and Americans were warned the country might not return to normal until Christmas. AdThe Biden administration estimates that 400,000 small businesses have closed because of the pandemic and millions more are barely surviving. It recently qualified for a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan during a two-week window in which the Biden administration focused the program exclusively on helping businesses with 20 or fewer employees.

President Joe Biden speaks about the COVID-19 relief package in the State Dining Room of the White House, Monday, March 15, 2021, in Washington. Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses have launched an ambitious tour this week to promote the $1.9 trillion plan as a way to battle the pandemic and boost the economy. “We want to avoid a situation where people are unaware of what they’re entitled to,” Harris said at the culinary academy. “Shots in arms and money in pockets,” Biden said at the White House. After beginning the sales campaign with high-profile speeches, Biden will head to Pennsylvania on Tuesday and then join Harris in Georgia on Friday.

Perhaps most significantly, it greatly expands a child tax credit and turns it into steady income for poor families. All told, experts say, the package will reduce child poverty by nearly half. As ambitious and expensive as it is, the American Rescue Plan, which Biden signed into law Thursday, stands to go only so far in reducing income and wealth inequality. Still, inequality runs so deep in the United States that even the nearly $2 trillion in the Biden package alone won't uproot it. “I would give it high marks for reducing income inequality, recognizing that it’s not meant to be a long-term structural change,” she said.

At the same time, more than 4 million residents with certain disabilities or health concerns become eligible for a vaccine. Set in motion over one year, that's warp-speed spending in a capital known for gridlock, ugly argument and now an episode of violent insurrection. At one turn after another, that may be the rhetorical question of these COVID-19 times. The U.S. reached a total of 3,000 COVID-19 deaths even before March 2020 was out. By December, the country was experiencing the toll of 9/11 day after day after day.

President Joe Biden speaks about the American Rescue Plan, a coronavirus relief package, in the Rose Garden of the White House, Friday, March 12, 2021, in Washington. Biden signed the bill into law Thursday and then extolled it in a prime-time address to the nation that night. He predicted that Biden would be equally relentless in selling the relief package this time. “This is so important that it is literally something you say during the last rally of your reelection campaign.”Biden is expected to appoint someone to oversee implementation of the COVID-19 relief plan. AdBiden’s White House has embraced the strategy of under-promising and then over-delivering, allowing it to frequently beat target dates and goals on, for instance, vaccine distribution.

President Joe Biden speaks about the American Rescue Plan, a coronavirus relief package, in the Rose Garden of the White House, Friday, March 12, 2021, in Washington. Biden signed the bill into law Thursday and then extolled it in a prime-time address to the nation that night. He predicted that Biden would be equally relentless in selling the relief package this time. “This is so important that it is literally something you say during the last rally of your reelection campaign.”Biden is expected to appoint someone to oversee implementation of the COVID-19 relief plan. AdBiden’s White House has embraced the strategy of under-promising and then over-delivering, allowing it to frequently beat target dates and goals on, for instance, vaccine distribution.

The additional funding includes:— $620 million for AmeriCorps’ state and national programs, which provide grants to local nonprofits to hire AmeriCorps members for designated projects. — $80 million boost for AmeriCorps Vista, which works with local nonprofits and governments on anti-poverty programs. The new stimulus measure expands that eligibility to nonprofits that operate at multiple locations as long as no more than 500 employees work at any single location, according to the National Council of Nonprofits. AdHELP FOR NONPROFITS THAT SELF-INSURE UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITSThe measure extends and expands help for nonprofits that self-insure unemployment benefits. Under previous stimulus legislation, the federal government covered half the costs of benefits provided to their laid-off employees.

HOUSTON – Local officials are slated to hold a news conference Friday at 2:30 p.m. to discuss the passage of the American Rescue Plan and its direct impact on Houston, Harris County, and area school districts. U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Texas Rep. Al Green (TX-09); U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Mayor Sylvester Turner, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, Houston Independent School District Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan, and other local officials are expected to attend the event. KPRC will broadcast a live stream of the event. Be sure to watch in the video player at the top of this article when the video becomes available.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)BALTIMORE – To pay out his coronavirus relief package, President Joe Biden must spend an average of $3.7 billion every day for the rest of this year. Schools and state and local governments also might spread out spending to well after most of the country is vaccinated. “To do that, we’re going to need your input and advice.”The Biden package also introduces about $140 billion in temporary tax credits. First is the reduction in child poverty promoted by the Biden team through the tax credits and other aid. But the spending in the Biden package also reflects how much has changed after the nation went into lockdown a year ago.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)BALTIMORE – To pay out his coronavirus relief package, President Joe Biden must spend an average of $3.7 billion every day for the rest of this year. Schools and state and local governments also might spread out spending to well after most of the country is vaccinated. “To do that, we’re going to need your input and advice.”AdThe Biden package also introduces about $140 billion in temporary tax credits. First is the reduction in child poverty promoted by the Biden team through the tax credits and other aid. But the spending in the Biden package also reflects how much has changed after the nation went into lockdown a year ago.

WASHINGTON – The White House said Thursday the $1,400 direct payments for most Americans funded by the American Rescue Plan will start showing up in bank accounts as early as this weekend. Press secretary Jen Psaki said the government will make the first direct deposits this weekend. She says payments will continue throughout the next several weeks. President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan in the Oval Office on Thursday. Besides the $1,400 direct payments to individuals, the plan includes money to help distribute coronavirus vaccines, provide relief to homeowners and renters, help reopen schools, provide aid to state and local governments, and an expansion of the child tax credit, among other features.

People wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus gather at a park in Goyang, South Korea, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea is extending its current measures on social distancing for at least another two weeks as it struggles to slow coronavirus infections in the greater capital area. ___WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand has removed remaining coronavirus restrictions on the city of Auckland after containing a small outbreak. ___WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is planning to announce during his prime-time address Thursday night that he’ll deploy 4,000 additional U.S. troops to support coronavirus vaccination efforts. Thursday’s announcement from the Department of Corrections comes a year after suspending visits at prisons because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“While it was different for everyone, we all lost something," Biden said of the sacrifices of the yearlong-and-counting pandemic. “This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country,” Biden said as he signed the bill in the Oval Office. In his Thursday night address, Biden said that as vaccine supplies continue to increase, he will direct states and territories to make all adults eligible for vaccination by May 1. Biden had originally planned to sign the bill on Friday, but it arrived at the White House more quickly than anticipated. Trump, it was later revealed, acknowledged that he had been deliberately “playing down” the threat of the virus.

President Joe Biden speaks about the COVID-19 pandemic during a prime-time address from the East Room of the White House, Thursday, March 11, 2021, in Washington. “This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country,” Biden said as he signed the bill in the Oval Office. AdIn his Thursday night address, Biden said that as vaccine supplies continue to increase, he will direct states and territories to make all adults eligible for vaccination by May 1. Biden originally planned to sign the bill on Friday, but it arrived at the White House more quickly than anticipated. He announced travel restrictions and called for Americans to practice good hygiene but displayed little alarm about the forthcoming catastrophe.

Known as the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion bill shores up and builds upon previous COVID-19 spending bill provisions. On Saturday, both of the state's Republican senators, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, voted against the bill. The bill also funds an additional $300 in unemployment payments per week until early September. The House passed a previous version of this bill in late February but Democratic moderates in the Senate were successful in scaling back the legislation. The original House bill also included a minimum wage hike to $15 per hour, but the Senate parliamentarian ruled out that provision.

The Senate approved a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill which will provide stimulus payments of up to $1,400 for most Americans. Individuals who earn $75,000 or less eligible are slated to receive $1,400. Households will receive an additional $1,400 for each dependent child claimed on their most-recent tax filings. An online tool created by Omni Calculator allows users to estimate the payment they are likely to receive from the American Rescue Plan. AdThe online tool takes the user’s filing status, the number of dependents, and adjusted gross income to determine if they are eligible for the stimulus payment and how much they could receive.

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday the country was still in a “deep hole” with millions of lost jobs but that President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief plan could generate enough growth to restore full employment by next year. Summers also contended that Biden’s plan would make less money available for other initiatives such as improving the nation’s infrastructure. The proposal will be part of the COVID-19 relief bill they are writing that is expected to largely follow Biden’s plan. Under the House Democrats’ plan, those amounts would begin to phase out for individual parents earning $75,000 yearly and couples making $150,000. She said if Biden’s relief package is approved, the country could get back to full employment by next year.

(AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)Mexico posted a record spike in coronavirus cases on Friday, with 21,366 newly confirmed infections, about double the daily rate of increase just a week ago. The National Health Commission said 90 of those confirmed cases were in Hebei province, adjacent to Beijing, where the country’s biggest recent outbreak occurred. State health officials announced this week that vaccine eligibility would be expanded to educators and seniors beginning Jan. 23. But federal officials have since said the stockpile was exhausted when those promises were made and governors can’t expect any windfall shipments. President Donald Trump had invoked the Defense Production Act to address various aspects of the COVID-19 public health crisis.

(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)BEIJING — China says it is now treating more than 1,000 people for COVID-19 as numbers of cases continue to surge in the country’s north. ___AUSTIN, Texas — Texas has distributed more than 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. State health officials say Texas had more than 14,000 COVID-19 patients in hospitals and its death toll has passed 30,000. ___COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina will now allow medical students, retired nurses and other qualified professionals to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. ___MADRID — Spain reported 35,878 confirmed coronavirus cases and 201 new deaths from the coronavirus.