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Overview of federal spending during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
| Federalism |
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| •Key terms • Court cases •Major arguments • State responses to federal mandates • Federalism by the numbers • Index of articles about federalism |
The federal government has spent $5.2 trillion in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as of March 2022. This page features an overview of federal spending in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including pandemic response legislation and the major spending categories funds have been allocated to.
Background
Congress has passed six laws aimed at funding pandemic relief as of March 2022. The laws distributed the funding according to 17 spending categories.
The following list includes the six pieces of pandemic response legislation:
- The Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act (116-123) (CRPSA)
- The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (116-127) (FFCR)
- The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (116-136) (CARES)
- Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (116-139) (PPP & HCE)
- The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (116-260) (CRRSA)
- American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (117-2) (ARP)
The funding from the above laws was distributed to the following 17 spending categories:
- Federal program administration and oversight
- Global assistance
- Public services
- State, local, and tribal governments
- Health care
- Individuals
- Unemployment
- Veterans
- Broadband and technology
- Education
- Farming industry
- Financial institutions and federal reserve
- Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
- Small businesses
- Transportation
- Private sector pensions
- Tax credits[1]
The following chart shows the total federal spending in response to the COVID-19 pandemic broken down by category. The federal government has allocated $5.2 trillion to 17 spending categories in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as of March 2022. The spending categories include federal program administration and oversight; global assistance; public services; state, local, and tribal governments; health care; individuals; unemployment; veterans; broadband and technology; education; farming industry; financial institutions and federal reserve; Paycheck Protection Program (PPP); small businesses; transportation; private sector pensions; and tax credits.
The following table shows an overview of federal spending in response to the COVID-19 pandemic broken down by spending category and pandemic response legislation. There have been six laws passed that funded pandemic relief (CPRSA, FFCR, CARES, PPP & HCE, CRRSA, and ARP) that have been distributed to 17 spending categories as of March 2022.
| Spending Category Breakdown | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spending Category | CPRSA Amount | FFCR Amount | CARES Amount | PPP & HCE Amount | CRRSA Amount | ARP Amount | Amount Total |
| Federal Program Administration and Oversight | $1,184,000,000 | $161,000,000 | $69,169,921,000 | $4,934,000,000 | $4,224,558,300 | $12,386,205,000 | $92,059,684,300 |
| Global Assistance | $985,000,000 | $608,000,000 | $4,000,000,000 | $10,546,000,000 | $16,139,000,000 | ||
| Public Services | $3,400,000,000 | $250,000,000 | $45,886,788,494 | $9,341,000,000 | $2,638,000,000 | $29,650,400,000 | $91,166,188,494 |
| State, Local, and Tribal Governments | $2,200,000,000 | $212,198,200,000 | $23,078,000,000 | $436,855,100,000 | $674,331,300,000 | ||
| Health Care | $1,000,000,000 | $101,021,977,744 | $87,825,000,000 | $61,343,000,000 | $100,173,000,000 | $351,362,977,744 | |
| Individuals | $19,800,000,000 | $317,434,000,000 | $239,334,698,650 | $569,912,949,000 | $1,146,481,647,650 | ||
| Unemployment | $1,000,000,000 | $634,650,813,287 | $197,855,700,000 | $202,167,000,000 | $1,035,673,513,287 | ||
| Veterans | $60,000,000 | $17,388,000,000 | $16,990,000,000 | $34,438,000,000 | |||
| Broadband and Technology | $2,332,350,000 | $6,939,900,000 | $9,836,000,000 | $19,108,250,000 | |||
| Education | $31,007,000,000 | $81,922,000,000 | $170,582,870,000 | $283,511,870,000 | |||
| Farming Industry | $9,500,000,000 | $11,976,453,363 | $10,740,000,000 | $32,216,453,363 | |||
| Financial Institutions and Federal Reserve | $21,203,743,186 | $60,000,000,000 | $81,203,743,186 | ||||
| PPP | $219,500,000,000 | $261,335,000,000 | $289,925,000,000 | $7,250,000,000 | $778,010,000,000 | ||
| Small Businesses | $10,000,000,000 | $60,000,000,000 | $35,000,008,320 | $78,990,000,000 | $183,990,008,320 | ||
| Transportation | $68,075,000,000 | $33,023,332,000 | $58,151,355,534 | $159,249,687,534 | |||
| Private Sector Pensions | $86,000,000,000 | $86,000,000,000 | |||||
| Tax Credits | $161,650,000,000 | $161,650,000,000 | |||||
| Grand Total | $7,769,000,000 | $22,271,000,000 | $1,759,975,793,711 | $483,435,000,000 | $991,260,650,633 | $1,961,880,879,534 | $5,226,592,323,878 |
See also
- Federal government responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020-2022
- Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020
- American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
Footnotes
