President Signs Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES)

 

 

 

 

Following extensive negotiations between the Trump Administration and Congressional Leaders, President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES). The $2.2 trillion economic relief package provides American families, healthcare workers, and small businesses with the economic support they need to get through this challenging time. The package includes $1,200 payments to qualifying Americans, $100 billion in direct support for hospitals, and over $370 billion to small business owners to keep their employees on the payroll. It also includes direct relief for State, Tribal, and local governments through the $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund. Each State will receive at least $1.25 billion. $8 billion is set aside for tribal governments. This aid comes on top of the Family First Coronavirus Aid Package, enacted last week, which increased the federal share of Medicaid payments through the emergency period by 6.2 percentage points and provided reimbursements to States for the cost of expanding certain public assistance programs. State/Local/Tribal provisions include:

·       $150 billion in direct aid to State, Tribal, and local governments. Aid will be allocated primarily by a State’s population with each State receiving at least $1.25 billion.

·       $340 billion in emergency funding to combat the coronavirus outbreak, with $274 billion going to state and local governments for specific purposes. This is in addition to the $150 billion distributed to states to cover their own separate efforts and forms a major part of the federal government’s plan to assist state efforts.

·       $5 billion for the Community Development Block Grant program, including $2 billion to existing CDBG grantees that received funding in FY 2020. The bill also provides $1 billion for states and insular areas to respond to COVID-19, including activities within entitlement and non-entitlement communities and requires that those allocations. Any remaining funds will be distributed directly to states on a rolling basis.

·       A $500 billion for loans and guarantees through an Economic Stabilization Fund that authorizes the U.S. Treasury to support eligible businesses and States and local governments to cover losses incurred as a result of COVID-19.

·       $100 billion for hospitals and health care facilities to reimburse expenses or lost revenues not otherwise reimbursed that are directly attributable to COVID-19.

·       $3.5 billion to allow States to expand childcare benefits for healthcare workers, first responders, and others on the frontlines of this crisis.

·       Additional federal funding for joint federal-state programs like Medicaid and unemployment compensation, along with other expenditures which will reduce some of the need for states to undertake new COVID-19 spending on their own.

·       Read more here: President Donald J. Trump Is Providing Economic Relief to American Workers, Families, and Businesses Impacted by the Coronavirus