Breaking Down the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021

The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 is a follow-on to such actions as the CARES Act and Paycheck Protection Program passed in the spring of 2020, and comes after eight months of mostly little progress in negotiations between the different parties and houses of Congress.

On January 14, the Congressional Budget Office released its scoring with Division M as $184 billion and Division N as $682 billion, for a total of $866 billion with their breakdowns.

$325 billion for small businesses

$284 billion in forgivable loans via the Paycheck Protection Program

$20 billion for businesses in low-income communities

$15 billion for economically endangered live venues, movie theaters and museums

$166 billion for a $600 stimulus check, for most Americans with an adjusted gross income lower than $75,000

$120 billion for an extension of increased federal unemployment benefits ($300 per week until March 14, 2021)

$82 billion for schools and universities, including $54 billion to public K-12 schools, $23 billion for higher education; $4 billion to a Governors Emergency Education Relief Fund; and slightly under $1 billion for Native American schools

$69 billion for vaccines, testing, and health providers

Vaccine and treatment procurement and distribution, as well as a strategic stockpile, received over $30 billion

Testing, contact tracing, and mitigation received $22 billion

Health care providers received $9 billion

Mental health received $4.5 billion

$25 billion for a federal aid to state and local governments for rental assistance programs (also covering rent arrears, utilities, and home energy costs)

$13 billion to increase the monthly Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/food stamp) benefit by 15% through June 30, 2021

$13 billion round of direct payments to the farming and ranching industry, including:

About $5 billion for payments of $20 per acre for row crop producers, which (according to an American Farm Bureau Federation analysis) would go to producers of corn ($1.8 billion), soybeans ($1.7 billion), wheat ($890 million), and cotton ($240 million).

Up to $1 billion for livestock and poultry farmers, plus certain “plus-up” payments for cattle producers

$470 million for dairy producers, plus additional $400 million for the USDA to purchase milk for processing into dairy products for donation to food banks

$60 million for small meat and poultry processors

$10 billion for child care (specifically, the Child Care Development Block Grant program)

$10 billion for the U.S. Postal Service (in the form of forgiveness of a previous federal loan)

The legislation also extends the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-imposed eviction moratorium (halting evictions for failure to pay rent for tenants with annual incomes of less than $99,000) to January 31, 2021; the moratorium had initially been set to expire at the end of 2020.