On April 21, Congress amended the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act to nearly double—to some $670 billion—the amount of federal spending to guarantee loans to small businesses and for supplies, salaries and research to fight the nationwide COVID-19 pandemic.
The amendment, passed Tuesday and published in the Congressional Record the same day, stipulates new spending of $240.25 billion, disbursed in the following way:
$30 billion to guarantee loans made by insured depository institutions and credit unions with consolidated assets of not less than $10 billion and less than $50 billion
$30 billion to guarantee loans made by community financial institutions, insured depository institutions, and credit unions with consolidated assets of less than $10 billion
$75 billion for the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund to reimburse eligible health care providers for health care-related expenses or lost revenues attributable to coronavirus
$25 billion to research, develop, validate, manufacture, purchase, administer, and expand capacity for COVID–19 tests to effectively monitor and suppress COVID–19
$11 billion to states, localities, territories, tribes, tribal organizations, urban Indian health organizations, or health service providers to tribes for necessary expenses to develop, purchase, administer, process, and analyze COVID–19 tests
$2 billion shall be allocated to states, localities, and territories according to the formula that applied to the Public Health Emergency Preparedness cooperative agreement in fiscal year 2019
$4.25 billion shall be allocated to States, localities, and territories based on relative number of cases of COVID–19
$750 million shall be allocated in coordination with the Director of the Indian Health Service
$1 billion to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—CDC-Wide Activities and Program Support for surveillance, epidemiology, laboratory capacity expansion, contact tracing, public health data surveillance and analytics infrastructure modernization, disseminating information about testing, and workforce support necessary to expand and improve COVID–19 testing
$306 million to the National Institutes of Health—National Cancer Institute, to develop, validate, improve, and implement serological testing and associated technologies
$500 million to the National Institutes of Health—National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, to accelerate research, development, and implementation of point of care and other rapid testing related to coronavirus
$1 billion to develop, validate, improve, and implement testing and associated technologies; to accelerate research, development, and implementation of point of care and other rapid testing
$1 billion to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority for necessary expenses of advanced research, development, manufacturing, production, and purchase of diagnostic, serologic, or other COVID–19 tests or related supplies
$22 million to support activities associated with diagnostic, serological, antigen, and other tests, and related administrative activities
$600 million for grants to federally qualified health centers
$225 million for COVID–19 testing and related expenses, through grants or other mechanisms, to rural health clinics, for building or construction of temporary structures, leasing of properties, and retrofitting facilities to support COVID–19 testing
$12 million to the Office of the Secretary, Office of Inspector General, for oversight of activities supported with coronavirus funds
$2.1 billion for Small Business Administration salaries and expenses
$50 billion for the Disaster Loans Program
$10 billion for Emergency Economic Injury Disaster Loan Grants
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