The United States still has hundreds of billions of dollars in COVID-19 rescue funds that haven’t been used, even though the pandemic has been going on for almost two years and there have been six relief bills passed.
A report from the Treasury Department says that Congress has given about $4.5 trillion in COVID aid. According to CNBC, about $4 trillion has been claimed by a number of federal agencies, but only $3.5 trillion has been paid out.
The roughly $500 billion in aid that hasn’t been used could be returned to the government if it isn’t given out by the deadlines for each program.
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Budget experts say that it can take a long time for funds to reach the people of the United States because they have to go through a lot of steps.
There are rules for “obligating” money, which the Small Business Administration and the Department of Labor follow before they can spend it.
According to data from the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, the government hasn’t spent enough money on things like education, health care, and disaster relief.
Marc Goldwein, a senior vice president with the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said that the government plans to use almost half of the money that was leftover in the budget in the next few years.
Goldwein said that a strong credit market may have eliminated the need for some loans, which led to funds that were left over because there wasn’t enough demand for them.
Other programs cost less than expected, including extra unemployment benefits that half of U.S. states cut off before the Labor Day cut-off date.
Education has more money than any other group. About $260 billion was set aside for elementary, secondary, and vocational education, but only $60 billion has been spent so far, so far.
Until 2025, schools can spend the rest of the money.
A lot of money for health care services is also available. Over $300 billion was set aside for the category, but only $192 billion has been spent on the project so far.
There may be money to pay for COVID-19 testing and care, as well as the Pfizer antiviral COVID treatment that is expected.
The government has spent most of its money on two things: direct payments to people and the Paycheck Protection Program. The US has used up all of the nearly $844 billion it was given for direct payments, and only $3 billion is left in the over $830 billion paycheck program that the government set up.
Because of the financial crisis in 2008, the amount of money the federal government spent to help people is shocking.
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During the financial crisis of 2008-2009, “just one pandemic relief program… is enough to cover every single thing that was done by the government,” said PRAC Chair Michael Horowitz in the group’s report to Congress that was released last week. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is worth $800 billion.