What happened this week in 1935?
Congress approved the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act.
Congress approved the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act.
On April 8, 1935, the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, the legislation under which the Works Progress Administration was later created, was passed by Congress. The bill had been quickly approved by the House of Representatives, passing by a wide margin, 329 to 78. In the Senate, the bill was temporarily held up by a vocal minority arguing against it. Eventually they relented; the bill was approved and signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
The Act gave the President broad powers to design and enact work-relief programs by executive order. In the Act's first year, $5 billion (the equivalent of $85 billion today) was allocated for such initiatives. One month later, on May 6, 1935, FDR issued the executive order creating the WPA, creating work for 3.5 million people.
The Act gave the President broad powers to design and enact work-relief programs by executive order. In the Act's first year, $5 billion (the equivalent of $85 billion today) was allocated for such initiatives. One month later, on May 6, 1935, FDR issued the executive order creating the WPA, creating work for 3.5 million people.