COVID-19 Relief: Funding and Spending as of Jan. 31, 2023 (GAO, February 2023)

Summary

GAO-23-106647, COVID-19 Relief: Funding and Spending as of January 31, 2023, a February 2023 Government Accountability Office report. It states that six COVID-19 relief laws enacted in 2020 and 2021 provided about $4.6 trillion for pandemic response and recovery, and that as of January 31, 2023 the federal government obligated $4.5 trillion and expended $4.2 trillion, or 98 and 90 percent of these funds. Table 1 lists major spending areas, among them Economic Impact Payments (Treasury), Business Loan Programs (Small Business Administration) and Unemployment Insurance (Labor). It reports that $90.5 billion remained available for obligation and $23.7 billion was expired.

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“COVID-19 Relief: Funding and Spending as of Jan. 31, 2023 (GAO, February 2023).” Original at www.gao.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/gao-23-106647-covid-19-relief-funding-and-spending-as-of-jan-31-2023-5c57d408e6/, SHA-256 7b60a440a0eaec87270677ee217104c133244a9ac0c47c2f5be83c13a8c7a6d4.

Full text

  COVID-19 Relief: Funding and Spending as of Jan. 31, 2023

  GAO-23- 106647, · February 2023

  The federal government has provided about $4.6 trillion to help the nation respond to and recover from
  the COVID-19 pandemic. Tracking federal spending is complex—especially at this unprecedented
  magnitude. As part of our ongoing and comprehensive review of the federal pandemic response, we
  oversee and regularly report on this spending.

The Big Picture
Six COVID-19 relief laws enacted in 2020 and 2021 provided about $4.6 trillion of funding for pandemic response and
recovery. As of January 31, 2023, the most recent date for which government-wide information was available, the federal
government obligated a total of $4.5 trillion and expended $4.2 trillion, or 98 and 90 percent, respectively, of these relief
funds, as reported by federal agencies to the Department of the Treasury in accordance with Office of Management and
Budget guidance. Table 1 provides additional details on funding, obligations, and expenditures of government-wide
COVID-19 relief funds by major spending areas.
Table 1: Major Spending Areas Under COVID-19 Relief Funding, as of Jan. 31, 2023

                                                                                                            COVID-19             Total               Total
  Major spending areas (dollars in billions)                                                            relief funding     obligations        expenditures
  Economic Impact Payments (Treasury)                                                                           858.6            858.2                 858.2
  Business Loan Programs (Small Business Administration)                                                        833.0            828.1                 828.0
  Unemployment Insurance (Labor)                                                                                701.6            699.5                 690.5
  Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (Treasury)                                                  350.0            349.9                 349.7
  Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund                                                              345.7            325.1                 277.5
  (Health and Human Services)
  Education Stabilization Fund (Education)                                                                      277.7            277.3                 161.5
  Coronavirus Relief Fund (Treasury)                                                                            150.0            149.9                 149.8
  Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs (Agriculture)                                                      121.1            102.2                 101.4
  Other areas (includes over 300 accounts)                                                                      976.8            909.6                 754.0
  Total                                                                                                       4,614.5           4,499.8              4,170.6
Source: GAO analysis of data from the Department of the Treasury and applicable agencies. | GAO-23-106647




Note: More information on GAO’s COVID-19 related work is available at https://www.gao.gov/coronavirus.

                                                                                      GAO-23-106647 COVID-19 Relief: Funding and Spending as of Jan. 31, 2023
As of January 31, 2023, $90.5 billion, or 2 percent of the total amount of funding provided for COVID-19 relief, remained
available for obligation (unexpired unobligated balance). Additionally, $23.7 billion was expired (expired unobligated
balance), meaning that this amount was not available for incurring new obligations but was available for recording eligible
obligation adjustments. Table 2 provides additional details on funding, obligations, unobligated balances, and
expenditures of government-wide COVID-19 relief funding.

Table 2: Largest Unexpired Unobligated Balances Under COVID-19 Relief Funding, as of Jan. 31, 2023

                                                                                                                       Unexpired          Expired
                                                     COVID-19                                              Total      unobligated      unobligated               Total
Spending areas (dollars in billions)             relief funding                                      obligations         balance          balance         expenditures
Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund          345.7                                            325.1             20.6              0.0               277.5
(Health and Human Services)
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Fund                                                52.7                 45.8              6.9               0.0                 45.6
(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation)
Emergency Rental Assistance                                                              46.5                 46.0              5.5               0.0                 45.0
(Treasury)
Veterans Medical Care and Health Fund                                                    14.5                   9.9             4.6               0.0                   7.8
(Veterans Affairs)
Transit Infrastructure Grants                                                            69.5                 65.9              3.7               0.0                 53.2
(Transportation)
U.S. Coronavirus Refundable Credits                                                      62.4                 58.8              3.7               0.0                 58.8
(Treasury)
CDC-Wide Activities and Program Support                                                  26.4                 22.8              3.6               0.0                 14.2
(Health and Human Services)
Other areas (includes over 250 accounts)                                            3,996.8                 3,925.5           41.9               23.7               3,668.5
Total                                                                               4,614.5                 4,499.8           90.5               23.7               4,170.6
Source: GAO analysis of data from the Department of the Treasury and applicable agencies. | GAO-23-106647

Note: Total obligations plus total unobligated balances may not equal total COVID-19 relief funding because of certain
budgetary reporting requirements. The Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program comprised
about $18.7 billion, or 79% of the total expired unobligated balance as of January 31, 2023.




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                                                                                      GAO-23-106647 COVID-19 Relief: Funding and Spending as of Jan. 31, 2023

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