The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021: What's in It, What's Not

On Dec. 21, 2020, Congress approved a 2,124-page, $2.3 trillion funding package consisting of a $900 billion end-of-the-year COVID-19 stimulus bill attached to a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill to fund the government through Sept. 30, 2021. After a delay, former President Donald Trump signed the bill six days later.

The CAA stimulus legislation included $300 per week in additional jobless benefits, direct payments of $600 to individuals, $325 billion in small business loans, more than $80 billion for schools, and $69 billion for vaccine development and deployment. Below are the details on what the CAA legislation included.

Direct Payments

The CAA package included Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) of $600 for individuals making up to $75,000 per year. Married couples who file jointly and earn up to $150,000 per year received $1,200. Dependents 16 and under were also eligible for $600. Payments began within a week after the bill was signed into law. Those whose bank information was already with the IRS were paid first.

Extra Unemployment Benefits

If you were receiving unemployment benefits, you would be eligible for an additional $300 per week through March 14, 2021. This included the self-employed, gig workers, and contract workers under an extension of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. The Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program was also extended so anyone who exhausted benefits would now be eligible for up to 50 weeks of combined state and PUA benefits or 24 weeks of combined state and PEUC benefits. These programs expired on Sept. 6, 2021.

Small Business Relief

Under the broad category of small business relief, the bill provided $325 billion apportioned as follows:

• $284 billion for forgivable first and second PPP loans
• $20 billion for new EIDL grants for businesses in low-income areas
• $3.5 billion for continued SBA debt relief payments
• $2 billion for enhanced SBA lending
• $15 billion for live venues, independent movie theaters, and cultural institutions

Community Development Lending

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) were set to receive $9 billion in additional funding through a new Neighborhood Capital Investment program to help low-income and minority communities deal with the economic impact of COVID-19.

Transportation

Although state and local government assistance wasn't included in this legislation, some local help was provided through $45 billion in transportation funding to include transit agencies, airlines and airline contractors, airports, state departments of transportation (DOTs), the motorcoach industry, and Amtrak as follows.

• $15 billion airline payroll support
• $1 billion airline contractor payroll support
• $14 billion for transit
• $10 billion for state highways
• $2 billion for airports and airport concessionaires
• $2 billion for the private motorcoach, school bus, and ferry industries
• $1 billion for Amtrak

Vaccines

Funding for COVID-19 vaccine procurement and distribution to the tune of $69.5 billion broke down to:

• $20 billion to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA)
• $9 billion to the CDC and individual states or vaccine distribution.
• $3 billion to build up the Strategic National Stockpile's supplies of vaccine
• $22 billion direct aid to states for testing, tracing, and COVID mitigation
• $4.5 billion in additional mental health funding
• $9 billion to support healthcare providers
• $1 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) research into COVID-19
• $1 billion in direct funds to the Indian Health Service

Schools

K-12 schools, colleges, and universities were slated to receive $82 billion to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Following a similar pattern to what was used with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, this funding was divided as follows:

• $818.8 million for Bureau of Indian Education and outlying areas
• $4.05 billion for the Governors Emergency Education Relief Fund for services to private K-12 schools
• $54.3 billion for the Elementary and Secondary (public K-12 schools) Emergency Relief Fund
• $22.7 billion to the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund

Rent Assistance

State and local governments were responsible for distributing a reported $25 billion in emergency federal rent assistance. The money is targeted to families impacted by COVID-19 who struggle to pay rent and/or owe past-due rent payments. Approximately $800 million of these funds are reserved for Native American housing entities.

The CAA also extended the moratorium on evictions first extended by the CARES Act. This moratorium was extended a number of times since then. But now that it's expired, what's next for renters?

Federal and state governments still have a number of emergency rental programs in place, originally worth $46.55 billion. As of August 13, 2021, $25 billion has been disbursed with $7.75 billion going to households. Individuals who require assistance can go through the U.S. Treasury's website to see what assistance is available in their areas.

Nutrition and Agriculture

A 15% increase in SNAP benefits—plus additional funding for food banks and senior nutrition programs costing $13 billion—made up half of the $26 billion set aside here. This included $614 million for nutrition assistance for Puerto Rico and other territories. Included in this allotment were emergency funds for school and daycare feeding programs, as well as improvements in the P-EBT program.

The second $13 billion consisted of direct payments, purchases, and loans to farmers and ranchers who suffered losses due to the pandemic. These funds would be used to support the food supply chain, purchase food, donate to food banks, and support local food systems.

U.S. Postal Service

A CARES Act $10 billion loan to the USPS was converted to direct funding with no required repayment by the CAA legislation. These funds were designed to be used to offset operational costs and expenses resulting from the pandemic.

Childcare

A Child Care and Development Block Grant of $10 billion, allocated through the new legislation will be used to provide childcare assistance to families. The funds will also be used to help childcare providers cover increased operating costs during the pandemic. Also included in this allotment: $250 million for Head Start providers.

Broadband

Emergency funds totaling $3.2 billion were appropriated to go to low-income families to provide access to broadband internet through an FCC fund. Those funds began being disbursed May 12, 2021, as Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) funds.

The CAA broadband appropriation also included a $1 billion tribal broadband fund, $250 million in telehealth funding, and $65 million to complete broadband maps to aid in government disbursement of broadband funds. An additional $300 million grant program was set to provide broadband in rural areas. The total set aside for broadband was almost $7 billion.

No Surprises Act

The No Surprises Act, contained in Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), 2021, takes a federal approach to the problem of surprise medical billing. Most parts of the act go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022. In the meantime, the Department of Health and Human Services, Treasury, and Department of Labor were instructed to issue regulations and guidance.

The main provisions of the No Surprises Act:

• Protect patients from surprise medical bills due to gaps in coverage for services provided for emergencies and by out-of-network providers at in-network facilities, including by air ambulances.
• Hold patients liable only for their in-network cost-sharing amount but give providers and insurers the opportunity to negotiate reimbursement.
• Allow providers and insurers to access an independent dispute resolution process in the event disputes arise around reimbursement.
• Require providers and health plans to help patients access health care cost information.

Additional Programs and Extensions

In addition to all funding above, the stimulus extended the Coronavirus Relief Fund created by the CARES Act and the Employee Retention Tax Credit. It also provided a special lookback for the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit for low-income individuals and provided a Contractor Pay Extension, allowing federal agencies to reimburse contractors for the cost of paid leave during the COVID pandemic.

It also extended to 2021 two charitable donation benefits that had been introduced for the 2020 tax year by the CARES Act:

• Taxpayers may continue to deduct charitable donations of up to 100% of their adjusted gross income (generally it's 60% of AGI).
• Individual taxpayers who do not itemize their deductions and take the standard deduction are allowed up to a $300 deduction for charitable cash contributions. Added by the Consolidated Appropriations Act: Married couples filing jointly who don't itemize can deduct up to $600, but the deduction is no longer above-the-line, as it was for 2020.

Comparison With CARES Act and American Rescue Plan

The table below compares Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) funding in several key areas with both the CARES Act, which preceded the CAA and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which followed it.

The American Rescue Plan Act

Following the inauguration of Joseph R. Biden as president, the new Democratic majority began taking steps to pass a new $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package to deliver further help, called the American Rescue Plan Act.

The plan, which was passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021, calls for a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination program, $1,400-per-person relief checks, financial support for small businesses, funding to helps schools reopen, expanded and extended unemployment insurance payments, rent subsidies, and more. The American Rescue Plan also includes a provision that student loan forgiveness issued between Jan. 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2025, will not be taxable to the recipient.