Data Stories

Households struggling to pay rent or utility bills received relief from the December 2020 passage of the $25 billion Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA1) program. State and local governments began receiving ERA1 funding in January 2021. The American Rescue Plan Act added $21 billion more to the program (ERA2)

Homeowners who missed two mortgage payments before December 27, 2021 may be eligible to receive assistance under the Homeowners Assistance Fund (HAF).

In response to COVID-19, the federal government authorized an unprecedented $5 trillion in pandemic response spending. The majority of the prime recipients of this funding were located in the United States, however, prime recipients in 177 foreign countries received a total of $6.4 billion. These prime recipients were awarded approximately 4,000 federal contracts and 1,000 federal grants.

States, eligible local governments, Tribal governments, the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories who received funding from the $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) must report on how they are spending the money.

In order to get pandemic relief funding out the door quickly, federal agencies are primarily using new and existing federal contracts and financial assistance awards to distribute the money. Do you know the difference? Here are the details.

Motorcoach, school bus, passenger vessel, and pilotage companies impacted by the pandemic are eligible to receive up to $2 billion in grants under the Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services (CERTS).

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was a new Small Business Administration (SBA) loan program created by the CARES Act to help small businesses keep their workers on payroll. The program provided a total of $798.7 billion to 11.7 million businesses, keeping around 90 million jobs on payroll.

When the pandemic hit, broadband access became crucial for keeping Americans safe and connected. Households relied heavily on home internet for online school, work, and medical appointments. The sudden shift highlighted the glaring inequality in home internet availability to underserved communities.

More than 11.5 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans were issued as of October 2, 2022, with 649 borrowers receiving the maximum loan amount of $10 million.

The $350 billion Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) included in the American Rescue Plan provides direct payments to eligible state, local, territory, and Tribal governments for local pandemic response efforts. These payments are in addition to the $150 billion distributed in March 2020 from the CARES Act.