Federal Advocacy

FLC Analysis of Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021

In the final days of 2020, Congress passed and the President signed into law the latest coronavirus relief package that was attached to the omnibus spending bill for the federal government. Click here for the bill text and additional summaries from Capitol Hill; see below for select highlights.

Podcast: Week in Washington – Special Edition December 22, 2020

GFOA FLC staff offer highlights and initial reactions to the massive spending and coronavirus relief package passed by Congress on December 21. LISTEN

Legislation Highlights

Issue Area

Location in Bill Text

Provision/Section Summary

Agency Responsible for Oversight/Administration

Additional funding for state and local governments to address revenue losses

NOT INCLUDED IN THE FINAL BILL

Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) Spend Extension

Division N, Title X, Sec. 1001

Spend date extended until December 31, 2021

U.S. Treasury (CRF FAQs, Guidance)

U.S. Treasury Office of the Inspector General (Reporting and Record-keeping)

Education Funding (Schools)

Division M, Title III, Sec. 311

Total funding = $82 billion, funding highlights:

  • Governors Emergency Education Relief Fund ($4.05B)
  • Elementary/Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund ($54.3B)
  • Higher Education Emergency Fund ($22.7B)
  • Outlying areas and the Bureau of Indian Education ($818 million)

U.S. Department of Education (Education Stabilization Fund)

Employee Retention Tax Credit

Division EE, Title II, Sec. 207

Extends credit until July 1, 2021 and includes higher education and hospitals as eligible

Internal Revenue Service (General Information and FAQs)

Federal paid leave requirement on all employers originally included in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)

The FFRCA imposed the first-ever temporary paid federal leave requirement for all employers, including public employers. The mandate expired on December 31, 2020 and the relief package DOES NOT extend the paid leave mandate.

Transportation

Division N, Title IV, Beginning Sec. 401

Total funding = $45 billion, funding highlights:

  • Airline payroll support ($15B)
  • Airline contractor payroll ($1B)
  • Transit ($14B)
  • State highways ($10B)
  • Airports and airport concessionaires ($2B)
  • Private motor coach/school bus/ferry industries ($2B)
  • Amtrak ($1B)

Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Transportation Administration

Stimulus Payments

Division N, Subtitle B, Sec. 272-273

Total funding included = $166 billion, $600 per person earning up to $75k a year and $1,200 for couples earning up to $150,000 a year.

U.S. Treasury

Unemployment Insurance

Division N, Title II, Sub. A, Beginning Sec. 200

Total funding = $120 billion, resulting in an additional $300 per week through March 14, 2021

Administered through state agencies

Small Business Assistance

DIVISION N, Title III, Beginning Sec. 301

  • First/second forgivable PPP loans ($284B) extended through March 31, 2021
  • EIDL Grants for businesses in low-income communities ($20B)
  • SBA debt relief ($3.5B)
  • Enhancements to SBA lending ($2B)
  • Grants for shuttered venue operators ($15B)

Small Business Administration, U.S. Treasury

Click HERE for the SBA/Treasury Announcement of PPP Re-opening and links to new guidance.

Shuttered Venue Operators

*Click HERE for additional analysis

Division N, Title III, Sec. 324

$15 billion for shuttered entertainment venues

Associate Administrator for the Office of Disaster Assistance of the Small Business Administration

Emergency Rental Assistance

*Click HERE for additional analysis

Division N, Title V, Beginning Sec. 501

Total funding = $25 billion (ERA 1)

  • CDC eviction moratorium extended through January 31, 2021
  • Native American housing ($800 million)

U.S. Treasury (General Information)

Health Care COVID Relief Spending

Division M, Title III

Total funding included = $69 billion, funding highlights:

  • CDC and states for vaccine distribution ($9B)
  • Strategic national stockpile ($3B)
  • Funding directly to states for testing/tracing and COVID mitigation programs ($22B)
  • Mental health funding ($4.5B)
  • Funding for NIH for COVID-19 research ($1.25B)
  • Health care provider support ($9B)

Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health

Broadband

Division N, Title IX, Sec. 901-903

Total funding included = $7 billion, funding highlights:

  • Low-income families ($3.2B)
  • Tribal broadband ($1B)
  • Telehealth funding ($250 million)
  • Complete broadband maps for dispersing funding to impacted areas ($65 million)
  • Small telecom providers for secure equipment ($2B)
  • Rural broadband funding grant program ($300 million)

Federal Communications Commission

Municipal Liquidity Facility

Division N, Title X, Sec. 1005

Federal Reserve retains the ability to create emergency lending facilities under Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act. The Federal Reserve is prohibited from re-starting the Municipal Liquidity Facility (MLF) but retains the authority of the Board of Governors, in “unusual and exigent circumstances” and under other conditions, to authorize Reserve Banks to extend credit to individuals, partnerships, and governments.

Federal Reserve

Water

Division H, Title II, Sec. 503

Low-income Water Utility Bill Assistance ($638 million) - provides grants to states and tribes who in turn will provide funds to owners or operators of public water systems or treatment works to reduce arrearages and rates to low-income households. Three percent of funds will be set aside for tribes.

Department of Labor/HHS

Disaster Assistance

Division M, Title II, Beginning Sec. 201

Total funding included = $2 billion, allocated to Disaster Relief Fund and activates FEMA's Disaster Funeral Assistance program which provides financial aid to those who have lost someone to COVID through the end of 2020.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)