Citation
Citing an insightful read courtesy of New York Times, here is what has been spent by the US Government on Covid thus far.
Where $5 Trillion in Pandemic Stimulus Money Went
Stimulus bills approved by Congress beginning in 2020 unleashed the largest flood of federal money into the United States economy in recorded history. Roughly $5 trillion went to households, mom-and-pop shops, restaurants, airlines, hospitals, local governments, schools and other institutions around the country grappling with the blow inflicted by Covid-19.
Economists largely credit these financial jolts with helping the U.S. economy recover more quickly than it otherwise would have from the largest downturn since the Great Depression: The pandemic recession was the shortest on record, lasting only three months.
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Where $5 Trillion in Pandemic Stimulus Money Went
Total ( $ 5 trillion )
Individuals and families ( $ 1.8 trillion )
Businesses ( $ 1.7 trillion )
State and Local Aid ( $745 billion )
Health Care $482 Billion
Other Programs ( $288 Billion )
Transcript
Where $5 Trillion in Pandemic Stimulus Money Went
Individuals and Families
Unemployment Benefits
Between March and July 2020, at the height of the deadly first wave of the outbreak, unemployed workers were able to get $600 per week on top of what their state provided in jobless aid.
Self-employed and gig workers, who typically would not qualify for unemployment benefits, also were eligible to receive support.
About $678 billion was spent on unemployment checks.
Stimulus Checks
More than 150 million households received stimulus checks.
Stimulus checks totaled about $817 billion.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ( SNAP )
About $62 billion was ultimately spent expanding the food stamp program known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ( SNAP ).
Businesses
Paycheck Protection program
About $835 billion was awarded via the paycheck protection program.
The intent is that businesses will use this money to keep people employed.
Congress lessened the employment requirements to ensure that business that made deep cuts were still eligible.
Economic Injury Disaster Loan program
The Government adapted its disaster loan program to provide low-interest loans to almost four million businesses.
About $350 billion in loans were given out.
That total is far more than has been lent out through the program’s entire lifetime; 70 years.
As this is a loan is is expected that the government will recoup this expense.
State & Local AID
Disbursement
At the beginning of the epidemic governments used the allotted fund to cover costs directly related to the epidemic.
As the effect of the the epidemic persisted and the lockdown lingered, services that would otherwise have collected their own revenues had to be funded directly by the local governments.
Examples of such services includes parks and recreation, city garages, and museums.
America Rescue Plan
K-12
K-12 Schools received $122 billion.
The schools used the funds to
- Pay salaries
- Facilitate vaccinations
- Upgrade buildings and ventilation systems to reduce the virus’s spread
- Help students recover academically from time lost due to shutdown during the pandemic
Health Care
Health Providers
Grants were made to health providers to address the following:-
- Lost Revenue
- Patients stopped requesting elective procedures and other routine cares
- Expand Testing
- Provide Covid-19 Treatments
- Subsidize the cost of heightened employee service eligibility requirements
Other Programs
Health Providers
Colleges and Universities
$59 billion dollars was awarded to Colleges and Universities to address shortfall of school closings and make grants to students.
Federal Government Agencies
Federal government agencies received about $15 billion towards:-
- Personal protective equipment
- Facility cleaning
- Telework support
- Resources to distribute the billions of dollars in aid across the country
Housing Programs
About $40 billion was allotted towards housing.
Work stoppage meant renters could ill afford to pay the largest ratio of their salary, rent.
To ensure that the perennially high homelessly rate does not get worse, eviction moratorium was put in placed by government agencies.
Payment to Farmers
About $40 billion was likewise allocated to farmers.
At the outset of the virus, farmers were adversely affected.
The whole ecosystem coming to a sudden halt meant that farmers could not service their customers ( restaurants, schools, hotels, and businesses ).
Unfortunately, food is very perishable and all of it had to be disposed of.
Black Farmers
To address historic underrepresentation & undercapitalization of black farmers, about $4 billion was set aside specifically for that racial group.
Unfortunately, that targeted portion, about 10% of the total allotted $40 billion, is being contested in the court system.
In Gratitude
Always in gratitude to the authors of this important read.
The writers being:-
- Alicia Parlapiano ( Graphics Editor & Reporter covering Politics and Policy )
- Deborah B. Solomon ( Economics Editor )
- Madeleine Ngo ( NY Times – Reporter )
- Stacy Cowley ( NY Times – Finance Reporter )
Learning in the Open 