Webinar & Chartbook: What's the Status of COVID Relief Money?

On March 27, 2020, the President signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act into law, the most sweeping economic recovery package in generations. This bill – as well as three other pieces of legislation enacted over the past few months – authorize a combined $3.6 trillion of support for the economy. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has announced up to $6 trillion in loans, equity purchases, and other extraordinary economic interventions, with $2.4 trillion in economic support provided so far. Separately, the executive branch has taken actions that could provide over $380 billion in support to the economy.

This blog post is a product of the COVID Money Tracker, a new initiative of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget focused on identifying and tracking the disbursement of the trillions being poured into the economy to combat the crisis through legislative, administrative, and Federal Reserve actions.

But how much of this money has gone out the door? Who is receiving it? How fast are individuals and businesses receiving assistance? Most importantly, is it working to protect the economy, keep businesses from shutting down, and address the public health crisis?
 

On Tuesday, Committee senior vice president and senior policy director Marc Goldwein answered many of these questions in a webinar regarding the status of federal support provided in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic crisis. Using data from our new COVID Money Tracker project, he discussed how much support has been committed or disbursed so far, the current macroeconomic condition, as well as what the future may hold.

You can view a video of the webinar below, as well as look through the corresponding slide deck.