Resources for Tracking Federal COVID-19 Spending (R46491, Version 1)

Summary

Version 1 of CRS report R46491, dated August 25, 2020, is the first edition of the Congressional Research Service guide to sources for tracking federal COVID-19 spending, by Jennifer Teefy and Maria Kreiser. Its contents run from consolidated data (USAspending.gov, the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee and the Government Accountability Office) through sources by type of recipient, grant awards on selected federal agency websites and other resources. The report says it may be updated frequently because the information from tracking sources keeps evolving. It points to CRS Report R46474 for the laws enacted, to R46449, by William L. Painter, for a legislative summary of the enacted bills, and to R44027, by Jennifer Teefy, on tracking federal awards.

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Resources for Tracking Federal COVID-19
Spending

August 25, 2020

Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
R46491
SUMMARY

R46491
Resources for Tracking Federal COVID-19
August 25, 2020
Spending Jennifer Teefy
Congress has responded to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with Senior Research Librarian
supplemental appropriations measures providing relief and assistance to individuals and
families, state and local governments, businesses, health care providers, and other Maria Kreiser
entities. For more information, see CRS Report R46474, Laws Enacted in Response to Senior Research Librarian
COVID-19: Resources for Congressional Offices.
This report provides selected sources for tracking COVID-19 relief and assistance
spending. It includes links to and information on government sources detailing spending
amounts at various levels of detail, including consolidated spending by multiple government agencies, spending
by individual government agencies, and spending to specific recipients and geographies. The sources themselves
are large government databases, individual agencies, oversight entities, and selected non-governmental entities
that attempt to repackage information on spending amounts obtained from available government sources.
Due to the continually evolving nature of information provided by sources that track federal COVID-19 spending,
this report may be updated frequently.
For a legislative summary of the enacted bills, and a broad discussion of both the discretionary and direct
spending measures provided by Congress, see CRS Report R46449, Tallying Federal Funding for COVID-19: In
Brief, by William L. Painter. For general information on resources for tracking federal funds, see CRS Report
R44027, Tracking Federal Awards: USAspending.gov and Other Data Sources, by Jennifer Teefy.

Congressional Research Service
Resources for Tracking Federal COVID-19 Spending

Contents
Consolidated Data on COVID-19 Funding ..................................................................................... 1
USAspending.gov ..................................................................................................................... 1
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee ....................................................................... 1
Government Accountability Office ........................................................................................... 2
COVID-19 Funding by Type of Recipient ...................................................................................... 2
State and Local Governments ................................................................................................... 2
Businesses and Nonprofit Organizations .................................................................................. 2
Individuals ................................................................................................................................. 3
Grant Awards on Selected Federal Agency Websites ...................................................................... 3
Other Resources .............................................................................................................................. 4

Contacts
Author Information.......................................................................................................................... 4

Congressional Research Service
Resources for Tracking Federal COVID-19 Spending

Consolidated Data on COVID-19 Funding
USAspending.gov
USAspending.gov tracks federal contract and grant awards and other federal spending at the
state, congressional district, and local levels. As mandated by an Office of Management and
Budget memorandum, federal agencies must include specific COVID-19 spending in their
reporting for the database. Detailed data for some programs are not fully reported in
USAspending.gov, such as the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program
and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Provider Relief Fund. The database provides
a description of known data limitations. Users can view COVID-19 spending data through the
following features:
 COVID-19 Profile Page provides an overview of the federal funding response to
COVID-19. It includes details on total obligations and outlays by agency, federal
accounts, and object class. An interactive map shows obligations and outlays
through grants, contracts, loans, and other assistance by state. Users can also see
obligations and outlays through different award types by agency and by Catalog
of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) program.
 Advanced Search includes a filter for “Disaster Emergency Fund Code
(DEFC).” This filter allows users to search for all COVID-19 spending and also
expands to allow further filtering by specific funding bill. The search results table
includes columns containing COVID-19 obligations and outlays for each award.
For general information on USAspending.gov, including searching tips, see CRS In Focus
IF10231, Tracking Federal Awards in States and Congressional Districts Using
USAspending.gov, by Jennifer Teefy.

Pandemic Response Accountability Committee
The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), a federal entity created by the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act; P.L. 116-136), is publishing
updated COVID-19 federal assistance and grant awards data at state and congressional district
levels.1 Currently, PRAC provides data on COVID-19-related contract awards from the General
Services Administration’s Federal Procurement Data System. These data are presented through
interactive tools with filtering capabilities (e.g., by state, county, and congressional district). The
website also links to the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program data (discussed below). PRAC’s
website is integrated with the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency’s
website, the federal inspector general community’s oversight and coordination body. See CRS
Insight IN11343, The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee: Organization and Duties,
by Ben Wilhelm.

1 Two additional oversight entities were created by the CARES Act: (1) the Special Inspector General for Pandemic

Recovery (SIGPR), which does not appear to have a website but does have a report that is available at
https://www.oversight.gov/report/prig/special-inspector-general-pandemic-recovery-initial-report-congress, and (2) the
Congressional Oversight Commission, at https://coc.senate.gov/.

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Resources for Tracking Federal COVID-19 Spending

Government Accountability Office
Government Accountability Office’s (GAO’s) June 2020 report, COVID-19: Opportunities to
Improve Federal Response and Recovery Efforts, includes detailed updates on the allocation of
obligated funds within categories such as relief for health care providers, COVID-19 testing,
unemployment insurance, housing protections, and education. See Appendix III for allocation
information. Another GAO report provides an overview of contracting activity related to COVID-
19 and focuses on the agencies that account for most of these obligations.

COVID-19 Funding by Type of Recipient
State and Local Governments
 Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) provides $150 billion in direct assistance to
state, territorial, local, and tribal governments based on population. See CRS
Report R46298, The Coronavirus Relief Fund (CARES Act, Title V): Background
and State and Local Allocations, by Grant A. Driessen. For specific allocations to
states, see Table 1. Treasury provides a CRF interim report of costs incurred by
state and local recipients and the District of Columbia and territories through
June 30, 2020. Additionally, the National Conference of State Legislatures
provides descriptions of and links to state CRF oversight plans and a database
detailing state CRF actions.
 State and local budget offices may be resources for information related to
COVID-19 spending; publicly available information may vary from one
jurisdiction to another.

Businesses and Nonprofit Organizations
The Small Business Administration (SBA) periodically publishes reports and data on its
programs, including data on approved loans for programs supporting disaster assistance and
recovery:
 Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). SBA provides data on the number
and amounts of approved EIDL loans and EIDL Advances (or Emergency EIDL
grants) by state.
 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). SBA provides information on loans of
$150,000 and above, including borrowers’ names, loan amount ranges, and
addresses. Information on loans of less than $150,000 is also available, with
borrowers’ names withheld. Additionally, SBA provides the total number and
amounts of approved PPP loans by state.
For information on programs supporting small businesses that are administered from other federal
agencies, see CRS Insight IN11301, Small Businesses and COVID-19: Relief and Assistance
Resources, by Maria Kreiser.
Treasury Department and Federal Reserve programs:
 Treasury’s Payroll Support Program supports passenger air carriers, cargo air
carriers, and certain contractors for continuing payment of employee wages,
salaries, and benefits. Treasury provides data tables on payments to recipients by
city and state.

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Resources for Tracking Federal COVID-19 Spending

 Treasury’s Loan Program provides loans to passenger air carriers, cargo air
carriers, and businesses critical to national security. Recent press releases indicate
that loans to major airlines and companies certified to be critical to maintaining
national security have been approved. Full transaction details are posted on the
Treasury website within 72 hours after a transaction is completed.
 The Federal Reserve (Fed) has access to CARES Act funds to provide
emergency funding, credit, liquidity, and loans to businesses as well as nonprofit
organizations (through the Main Street Lending Program). The Fed’s website
includes reporting on these programs and, in some cases, transaction-specific
disclosures.
For information on Treasury- and Fed-facilitated business assistance programs, see CRS Report
R46329, Treasury and Federal Reserve Financial Assistance in Title IV of the CARES Act (P.L.
116-136), coordinated by Andrew P. Scott; and CRS Insight IN11368, Larger Businesses and
COVID-19: Financial Relief and Assistance Resources, by Julie Jennings.

Individuals
The CARES Act includes economic impact payments for individuals and families. Treasury and
the Internal Revenue Service provide data on these payments by state through periodic statements
and announcements; the latest release was on July 17, 2020. See CRS Report R46415, CARES
Act (P.L. 116-136) Direct Payments: Resources and Experts, coordinated by Margot L. Crandall-
Hollick.

Grant Awards on Selected Federal Agency Websites
Several agencies provide information on COVID-19-related grant awards.
 Department of Health and Human Services maintains a COVID-19 funding
overview website that provides details on COVID-19-related grant awards and
allows for filtering by state and city. Each award in the table under the “COVID-
19 Award Details For Emergency Supplemental Appropriation Funding” heading
is linked to one of the funding bills referenced above. The website also provides
state- and city-level funding data for the Provider Relief Fund, Rural Health
Clinic (RHC) COVID-19 Testing Fund, and the Uninsured Relief Fund.
 Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) released details on obligations to each state as of June 4, 2020,
including data on FEMA-coordinated delivery of medical and personal protective
equipment.
 Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides information
on CARES Act funding at the state, county, and city levels for the Community
Development Block Grant program, the Emergency Solutions Grants program,
and the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program. HUD also
announced specific allocations to tribal communities and Fair Housing
Assistance Program agencies.
 Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs provides information on
awards by state/territory, county, and congressional district. Many of the recent
awards include “COVID-19” or “coronavirus” in the title.

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Resources for Tracking Federal COVID-19 Spending

 Department of Labor (DOL) provides information on approved funding from
Disaster Recovery Dislocated Worker Grants, by recipient state agency. DOL’s
Employment and Training Administration announces workforce-related grant
awards via press releases.
 Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration posts press
releases related to CARES Act assistance.
 National Science Foundation identifies COVID-19-related awards in its awards
database by searching for the keywords “covid” or “coronavirus.” Filtering by
state is available.

Other Resources
 Committee for a Responsible Budget’s COVID Money Tracker features papers,
blogs, spreadsheets, data visualizations, and an interactive database for tracking
funds.
 According to congressional testimony from July 2020, the Project on
Government Oversight will be launching a comprehensive COVID-19 relief
spending tracker.
 Rockefeller Institute of Government’s COVID-19 State Relief Dashboard is an
interactive tool for viewing state allocation data for programs such as CRF and
PPP.
 Federal Funds Information for States (FFIS) is a subscription-only service
attempting to track federal funding to states—including funding from the
COVID-19 relief bills. Many state governments subscribe to FFIS. Information is
limited for nonsubscribers.

Author Information

Jennifer Teefy Maria Kreiser
Senior Research Librarian Senior Research Librarian

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Resources for Tracking Federal COVID-19 Spending

Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan
shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and
under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other
than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in
connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not
subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in
its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or
material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you wish to
copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.

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