Resources for Tracking Federal COVID-19 Spending (R46491, Version 16, Updated March 23, 2021)

Summary

Version 16 of CRS report R46491, updated March 23, 2021, drops the summary's pointers to other CRS reports on the laws enacted and on a legislative summary of the enacted bills. Its body cites CRS Report R46298, General State and Local Fiscal Assistance and COVID-19, and R46688 on emergency rental assistance. The USAspending.gov entry adds a description of known data limitations, noting that some programs, such as the Department of Labor's unemployment relief and the Provider Relief Fund of the Department of Health and Human Services, are not fully reported there. The report is by Jennifer Teefy and Maria Kreiser.

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Resources for Tracking Federal COVID-19
Spending

Updated March 23, 2021

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

R46491
Resources for Tracking Federal COVID-19
March 23, 2021
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 entities.
Maria Kreiser
Senior Research Librarian
This report provides selected sources for tracking COVID-19 relief and assistance spending. It
contains links to and information on government sources detailing spending amounts at various
levels, including consolidated spending by multiple government agencies, spending by individual
government agencies, and spending for specific recipients and geographies. The sources
themselves are large government databases, individual agencies, oversight entities, and selected nongovernmental 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. Data currency varies among sources.

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 ...................................................................................... 3
Selected Programs for State and Local Governments ............................................................... 3
Businesses and Nonprofit Organizations .................................................................................. 4
Individuals ................................................................................................................................. 5
Grant Awards on Selected Federal Agency Websites ...................................................................... 5
Other Resources .............................................................................................................................. 5

Contacts
Author Information.......................................................................................................................... 6

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, loans, direct payments, and other
federal assistance 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. It provides a description of known data limitations,
which explains that data by location for some programs are not fully reported in
USAspending.gov, such as the Department of Labor’s unemployment relief and the Department
of Health and Human Services’ Provider Relief Fund. 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 classes. 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. These data are updated
monthly, and there is generally currency lag time of one or two months.
 Advanced Search allows for searching awards and other assistance by place of
performance and includes a filter for “Disaster Emergency Fund Code (DEFC).”
The DEFC filter includes the option for searching all COVID-19-related awards
and expands to allow further filtering by specific funding bill. The search results
table contains columns showing COVID-19 obligations and outlays for each
award. Agencies must report awards data monthly, and new data are posted to the
site daily.
 Data Lab is a tool for further exploring COVID-19 spending and provides
graphics showing (1) the types of relief the federal government is providing, (2)
how funds move from Congress to the public, and (3) data on the amount of
funding that has been spent. Part 3, “Tracking Spending,” contains interactive
graphs showing the progress of spending by agency under each funding bill,
including outlays, obligations, and unobligated funds. Detailed data on funding
by agency account can be downloaded into a spreadsheet. These data are updated
quarterly.
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),1 presents
COVID-19 funding data from USAspending.gov through a variety of interactive visual displays.
The “Track the Money” page features the following:

1 The CARES Act created two additional oversight entities: (1) the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery

(SIGPR), at https://www.sigpr.gov/ and (2) the Congressional Oversight Commission, at https://coc.senate.gov/.

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Resources for Tracking Federal COVID-19 Spending

 Funding Overview includes graphics showing funding by category–such as
state, local, and tribal governments, higher education, and small businesses–and
agency funding by category.
 Funding Charts and Graphs include several portals through which to view
funding data. The Pandemic Response Funding portal presents obligation and
spending data in graphs and tables from various perspectives, including “Where
is the money being spent?,” “Who is spending the money?,” and “How is the
money being spent?” Users can also filter the data by agency or location (i.e.,
country, state, county, city, and zip code). The Federal Agency Information
portal provides a high-level view of spending by agency. See descriptions of the
Coronavirus Relief Fund and Paycheck Protection Program portals in the
“State and Local Governments” and “Businesses and Nonprofit Organizations”
sections below, respectively.
 Funding Map allows users to view award data by geographic area (state, county,
congressional district, and zip code), award amount, and by funding type. The
map’s zoom tool enables users to focus on data for individual zip codes.
 Data Exports tool allows users to filter data by agency, location, type of
assistance, or keyword and provides several downloading options by category.
PRAC also provides a graphic showing the distribution of funds by major category for pandemic
relief enacted in Divisions M and N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260),
which was signed into law on December 27, 2020.
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.
For more information, see CRS Insight IN11343, The Pandemic Response Accountability
Committee: Organization and Duties, by Ben Wilhelm.

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. GAO also issued a brief
update on the initial federal response to the pandemic, which includes data as of June 30, 2020,
on federal funding and spending by broad areas, such as business loan programs, unemployment
insurance, and economic impact payments. Subsequent updates provide data on obligations and
expenditures in broad categories as of September 30, 2020, and November 30, 2020, and for
specific programs and activities as of various dates.

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Resources for Tracking Federal COVID-19 Spending

COVID-19 Funding by Type of Recipient
Selected Programs for State and Local Governments

Coronavirus Relief Fund
The Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) provides $150 billion in direct assistance to state, territorial,
local, and tribal governments based on population. See CRS Report R46298, General State and
Local Fiscal Assistance and COVID-19: Background and Available Data, by Grant A. Driessen.
For specific allocations to states, see Table 1. Treasury provides CRF interim reports on
 costs incurred by state and local recipients and the District of Columbia and
territories through June 30, 2020, and
 costs by category incurred by state and local recipients and the District of
Columbia and territories through June 30, 2020.
PRAC’s “Track the Money” page features tools for tracking CRF funding to prime and sub-
recipients by state, including an interactive map and filtering options. PRAC also provides
information about recipient reporting and data limitations.
Additionally, the National Conference of State Legislatures provides descriptions of and links to
state CRF oversight plans and a database detailing state CRF actions.

Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP)
The ERAP makes $25 billion available to states, U.S. territories, local governments, and Indian
tribes to assist households that are unable to pay rent and utilities due to the COVID-19
pandemic. The Treasury Department provides information on allocations to each state and
territory. Additionally, Treasury provides further data on ERAP payments to states and local units
of government and to tribes and tribally designated housing entities (TDHE). For more
information, see CRS Report R46688, Emergency Rental Assistance through the Coronavirus
Relief Fund, by Grant A. Driessen, Maggie McCarty, and Libby Perl.

Unemployment Compensation
Several unemployment relief measures were enacted in response to COVID-19. The Department
of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration provides updated data on funding by state
through each of these programs.

Municipal Liquidity Facility
The Federal Reserve (Fed) established the Municipal Liquidity Facility to help state and local
governments better manage cash flow pressures in order to continue to serve households and
businesses in their communities. See more about this and other Fed programs in the next section,
“Businesses and Nonprofit Organizations.”
State and local budget offices may also be resources for information related to COVID-19
spending; publicly available information may vary from one jurisdiction to another.

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Resources for Tracking Federal COVID-19 Spending

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 and on loans of less than $150,000, including borrowers’
names, loan amounts, addresses, and congressional districts. These data are in
spreadsheet format and can be downloaded via zip files. Another PPP data source
is PRAC’s “Track the Money” page, which features interactive graphics and
filtering options for tracking PPP loan data by country, state, county, city, and zip
code.
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.2
 Treasury’s Loan Program provides loans to passenger air carriers, cargo air
carriers, and businesses critical to national security. Press releases indicate that
loans to major airlines and companies certified to be critical to maintaining
national security have been approved. Full transaction details, including the
borrower’s city and state, are posted on the Treasury website within 72 hours
after a transaction is completed.3
 The Federal Reserve (Fed) had 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).4 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.

2 The borrower’s location is the address from its application and may not include all locations in which the recipient

operates.
3 The borrower’s location is the address from its application and may not include all locations in which the recipient

operates.
4 Some programs either have ended or will end by March 31, 2021. See CRS Insight IN11368, Larger Businesses and

COVID-19: Financial Relief and Assistance Resources, by Julie Jennings for more information.

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Resources for Tracking Federal COVID-19 Spending

Individuals
Several COVID-19 measures provided economic relief to individuals and families through direct
economic impact payments. The Internal Revenue Service provides statistics on the first round of
payments (made through the CARES Act) by adjusted gross income, state, and marital status. 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 9, 2020,
including data on FEMA-coordinated delivery of medical and personal protective
equipment. Additionally, FEMA’s COVID-19 news releases include grant award
announcements.
 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 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
The following resources offer additional perspectives on COVID-19 funding. CRS has not
independently verified the data provided by these sources.
 Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s COVID Money Tracker
features papers, blogs, spreadsheets, data visualizations, and an interactive
database for tracking funds.

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Resources for Tracking Federal COVID-19 Spending

 Project on Government Oversight’s COVID-19 relief spending tracker
includes an interactive map showing spending by state, county, and zip code, as
well as population breakdowns by race and ethnicity and unemployment rates at
each geographic level. Users can also filter data in table format by location,
recipient, award type, industry, and program.
 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.
 Peter G. Peterson Foundation tracks funding to each state by major COVID-19
programs, such as economic impact payments, unemployment assistance, and the
Paycheck Protection Program.
 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

Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan
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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
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