FISCAL BLOG

The continued economic recovery and reopening of businesses has been fueled by COVID relief programs and an accelerating vaccination effort.

Despite the consensus among economists that some amount of inflation is likely to occur in the near term, their level of concern varies.

Generally, states with larger populations have been receiving more federal dollars from COVID-19 relief programs as such states typically have more unemployed persons, small businesses, and healthcare providers to which that relief has been targeted.

One key component of the $1.9 trillion package is an estimated $362 billion in federal aid to state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to cover expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency.

America's small businesses have been severely impacted by the pandemic — and lawmakers have focused a significant part of federal relief on helping them.

The number of individuals experiencing long-term unemployment (lasting 27 weeks or longer) has quadrupled during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Since April 2020, the federal government has spent an average of $9 billion per month on SNAP.

The decline in purchasing power has important implications for the federal budget and our nation's infrastructure.

The pandemic has caused a public health crisis as well as substantial economic disruption. So far, lawmakers have enacted six separate pieces of legislation.

Three sets of stimulus checks have been issued to eligible recipients as part of the pandemic relief. Each set of payments have been slightly different.