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'Help Is Here' White House Tour Begins This Week In NJ, PA

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris begin a "Help is Here" tour of the United States this week, beginning in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden are beginning a "Help is Here" tour of the United States.

Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden are beginning a "Help is Here" tour of the United States.

Photo Credit: White House/ via Kamala Harris Instagram

Biden's wife and Harris' husband will be making some of the local visits aimed at explaining and promoting the newly-signed $1.9 trillion federal stimulus package.

First Lady Jill Biden, a native of Hammonton, will be in Burlington, New Jersey, on Monday and President Biden plans a stop in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday. 

The president was born in Scranton, and his wife grew up in South Jersey.

"They’re eager to get out there on the road," said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

The first lady is expected to visit a school in Burlington, according to media reports. She is a former high school teacher and current community college professor. The stimulus package includes about $130 billion for elementary and secondary schools to help them reopen during the coronavirus pandemic. New Jersey would get more than $2.6 billion.

The taxpayer money can be used for improved ventilation, smaller class sizes, more staff and buying personal protective equipment.

Gov. Phil Murphy will join the first lady on her visit to New Jersey, according to Mahen Gunaratna, his communications director.

During their trips, they will discuss the benefits of the American Rescue Plan for working families, and they "will engage with people at each of these stops about how the American people can benefit from the components of the package moving forward," Psaki said at a press briefing on Thursday. "So they will talk about the $1,400 checks that more than — that 158.5 million American households can expect" starting this weekend.

According to Psaki, the president also will talk about the expansion of the Child Tax Credit. 

They will all talk about extending unemployment insurance for around 11 million Americans; the tens of billions of dollars in rental and homeowner’s assistance that is a part of this package; the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, which will go to 17 million workers; and the components of the package that significantly reduce health insurance premiums for millions of American families, according to Psaki.

"And, of course, the fact that the bill will lift 11 million people out of poverty and cut child poverty in half," the press secretary said. 

Other stops are planned next week in Atlanta, Denver, Albuquerque and Las Vegas, prompting Psaki to say: "It was important to the President to visit not just blue states, but also red states, purple states."

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