The United States Senate Appropriations Committee agrees to provide $340 billion in new funding to confront the coronavirus pandemic. S. 3548, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act would provide financial resources for individuals, families and small businesses affected by COVID-19, as well as make several key policy changes impacting health care providers. The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote today to advance the comprehensive package.

More than 80% ($274.231 billion) of the package goes to state and local governments and communities. Highlights include:

    • $117 Billion for Hospitals and Veterans Health Care
    • $45 Billion for the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund
    • $16 Billion for the Strategic National Stockpile
    • $4.3 Billion for the Centers for Disease Control
    • $11 Billion for Vaccines, Therapeutics, Diagnostics, & Other Medical Needs

U.S. Department of Education

The package includes $30.750 for the U.S. Department of Education for an Education Stabilization Fund for costs related to coronavirus. This flexible funding is intended to get out the door quickly and go directly to states, local school districts, and institutions of higher education. The breakdown includes the following:

Elementary and Secondary Education: $13.5 billion in formula funding directly to states, to help schools respond to coronavirus and related school closures, meet the immediate needs of students and teachers, improve the use of education technology, support distance education, and make up for lost learning time.

State Flexibility Funding: Governors in each state will receive a share of $3 billion to allocate at their discretion for emergency support grants to local educational agencies that the State educational agency deems have been most significantly impacted by coronavirus. These funds will support the ability of such local educational agencies to continue to provide educational services to their students and to support the on-going operations of the local educational agency; and provide emergency support through grants to institutions of higher education serving students within the State.

Higher Education: $14.25 billion in funding to institutions of higher education to directly support students facing urgent needs related to coronavirus, and to support institutions as they cope with the immediate effects of coronavirus and school closures. This provides targeted formula funding to institutions of higher education, as well as funding for minority serving institutions and HBCUs.

Child Care

Child Care Development Blick Grant: $3.5 billion for the Child Care Development Block Grant. This funding will allow child care programs to maintain critical operations, including meeting emergency staffing needs and ensuring first responders and health care workers can access child care while they respond to the pandemic.

Head Start: $750 million for Head Start to meet emergency staffing needs.

Other

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: $15.5 billion in additional funding for SNAP to ensure all Americans, including seniors and children receive the food they need.

Child Nutrition Programs: $8.8 billion in additional funding for Child Nutrition Programs in order to ensure children receive meals while school is not in session.

Rural Development: $25 million to support the Distance Learning and Telemedicine program. This increase will help improve distance learning and telemedicine in rural areas of America. Additionally, $100 million is provided to the ReConnect program to help ensure rural Americans have access to broadband, the need for which is increasingly apparent as millions of Americans work from home across the country. The bill also includes $20.5 million to support$1 billion in Business and Industry loans.

Bureau of Indian Education (BIE): $69 million for response needs at BIE-funded schools, including staffing, transportation, telework, and cleaning activities and assistance for tribal colleges and universities across the country to help respond to the crisis.

For a full summary of the CARE Act, click here.

We will continue to monitor and provide updates as readily available.

 

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