Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt of a column published in Fortune.
When Shirley Thomas, a school custodian and member of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) in Jacksonville, Florida, was furloughed from her job, bills piled up as she went without pay.
Then, help arrived. The American Rescue Plan (ARP) became law, and the $1,400 stimulus check that came with it meant Shirley could, in her words, put “everything back in the black.”
The ARP – the relief bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden one year ago today – was a lifeline for millions of public service workers like Shirley. …