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Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) filed multiple amendments to the Democrats’ partisan $1.9 trillion spending proposal. Earlier this week, Rubio announced his opposition to the proposal in a Medium post titled “Biden’s COVID Bill Fails America.” 
 
“Rather than working with Republicans — something two-thirds of Americans say they want — President Biden and Congressional Democrats hijacked this package and used it as a Trojan horse to begin a radical restructuring of the nation,” Rubio said. “Today, I filed multiple amendments to help reopen schools, provide additional assistance to working families, and preserve the middle class stimulus checks President Biden promised American families.”
 
“I want to be clear: even though tens of billions of dollars remain unspent, there is broad bipartisan support for additional relief for families, small businesses, and vaccine distribution,” Rubio continued. “But I cannot and will not support such an irresponsible bill that funds the anti-family, anti-work priorities of the radical left.”
 
A summary of Rubio’s amendments is below.
 
Expanding the Child Tax Credit. An amendment to further expand the Child Tax Credit, which Rubio and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) successfully increased as part of the 2017 tax reform. Specifically, the amendment would strike Democrats’ attempt to convert the Child Tax Credit to a “child allowance” and replace it with an expansion of the existing Child Tax Credit to $3,500 ($4,500 for children under age 6), refundable to the extent of payroll tax liability. 
 
Preserving Middle Class Stimulus Checks. An amendment to keep middle class families eligible for stimulus checks. Specifically, the amendment would not phase out eligibility for stimulus checks until household incomes of $100,000 for single filers, $150,000 for head of household filers, and $200,000 for married filers. The increased cost of this eligibility is fully off-set by reductions to funds for state governments.
 
Funding for School Re-Opening. An amendment to reward schools that are prioritizing students and taking steps to offer in-person instruction five days a week. Under this proposal, schools that are completely closed would get twenty five percent of funding under the bill’s formula, whereas schools that provide an in-person option five days a week would get one hundred percent. 
 
Rebuilding Medical and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing. An amendment, based on Rubio’s Medical Manufacturing, Economic Development, and Sustainability (MMEDS) Act introduced in 2020, to encourage companies currently producing medical and pharmaceutical equipment abroad to relocate to the U.S., including Puerto Rico.
 
Blocking Biden’s Unconstitutional Domestic Travel Ban. Prohibits the use of included funds by the Department of Transportation and the FAA to plan, develop, carry out, enforce, or assist in any way with a federally mandated domestic travel ban within the United States, including Florida.
 
Blocking Chinese Genomic Companies. An amendment to prohibit any funding from going to entities that provide payments to genomic companies connected to the Chinese government.
 
Funding for Consumer Trade Shows. An amendment to make consumer trade shows eligible for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program operated by the Small Business Administration.
 
Authorizing FEMA Disaster Repayment. An amendment to authorize FEMA to reimburse state and local governments, as well as owners or operators of private nonprofit facilities for interest on a disaster relief loan, retroactive for 5 years.