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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.

With high unemployment, shortages of goods and services, and unprecedented funding in government programs, the global pandemic caused by COVID-19 created an environment ripe for fraud. The rapid rate of distributing funding for pandemic-related programs weakened or completely stopped many controls designed to prevent fraud.

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.

Each state manages and funds its own unemployment benefits program according to federal guidelines.

In short, prime recipients receive money directly from the federal government. The prime recipients may then pay some of the money they received to other entities for goods or services. These entities are sub-recipients.

Between February 24 and March 9, 2021, only small businesses and non-profits with fewer than twenty employees could apply for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. Our data shows more than 436,438 loans totaling $13.8 billion were approved during that two-week window.

Millions of Americans have struggled to pay rent during the pandemic, and now face the possibility of eviction. To help meet this need, Congress created the Emergency Rental Assistance program in December 2020, making $24 billion available to state and local governments to help households pay rent or utilities.

We work with data every day and know that it can be confusing and complicated. So, we’ve launched a new feature: Data Stories to tell the story of one data point and why it matters.

The PRAC’s Data Sharing Working Group recently collaborated with subject matter experts from government agencies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia to share the data tools and techniques they use to help protect pandemic relief dollars.