The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021: What’s in It, What’s Not
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$600 direct individual payments and $300/week unemployment benefits
Reviewed by Charles Potters
Fact checked by Vikki Velasquez
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Congress approved a 2,124-page, $2.3 trillion funding package on Dec. 21, 2020 that consisted of a $900 billion end-of-the-year COVID-19 stimulus bill attached to a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill intended to fund the government through Sept. 30, 2021. Former President Donald Trump signed the bill six days later.
The CAA stimulus legislation included $300 per week in additional jobless benefits, direct payments of $600 to individuals, $325 billion in small business loans, more than $80 billion for schools, and $69 billion for vaccine development and deployment.
Key Takeaways
- The CAA included direct payments of $600 per person including dependents 16 and under, as well as unemployment benefits of $300 per week.
- The stimulus package provided small business relief funding totaling $325 billion.
- A total of $69 billion was set aside for vaccine development and distribution.
- The plan set aside help for schools, renters, and welfare recipients.
- The CAA preceded the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021, signed by President Biden on March 11, 2021.
Direct Payments
The CAA package included Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) of $600 for individuals making up to $75,000 per year. Married couples who filed jointly and earned up to $150,000 per year received $1,200. Dependents age 16 and under were also eligible for $600.
Payments began within a week after the bill was signed into law. Those whose bank information was already with the IRS were paid first.
Warning
CAA legislation prohibited the IRS from disbursing stimulus payments after Jan. 15, 2021. You would have to have claimed it as a recovery rebate tax credit when you filed your 2020 tax return if you didn’t receive your payment by then.
Extra Unemployment Benefits
You would have been eligible for an additional $300 per week through March 14, 2021 if you were receiving unemployment benefits. This included self-employed persons, gig workers, and contract workers under an extension of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program.
The Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program was also extended so anyone who had exhausted benefits would be eligible for up to 50 weeks of combined state and PUA benefits or 24 weeks of combined state and PEUC benefits. These programs expired on Sept. 6, 2021.
Small Business Relief
The bill provided $325 billion under the broad category of small business relief:
- $284 billion for forgivable first and second PPP loans
- $20 billion for EIDL grants for businesses in low-income areas
- $3.5 billion for continued SBA debt relief payments
- $2 billion for enhanced SBA lending
- $15 billion for live venues, independent movie theaters, and cultural institutions
Community Development Lending
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs) were set to receive $9 billion in additional funding through a Neighborhood Capital Investment program to help low-income and minority communities deal with the economic impact of COVID-19.
Transportation
Although state and local government assistance wasn’t included in this legislation, some local help was provided through $45 billion in transportation funding to include transit agencies, airlines and airline contractors, airports, state departments of transportation (DOTs), the motorcoach industry, and Amtrak as follows:
- $15 billion airline payroll support
- $1 billion airline contractor payroll support
- $14 billion for transit
- $10 billion for state highways
- $2 billion for airports and airport concessionaires
- $2 billion for the private motorcoach, school bus, and ferry industries
- $1 billion for Amtrak
Vaccines
Funding for COVID-19 vaccine procurement and distribution to the tune of $69.5 billion broke down like this:
- $20 billion to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA)
- $9 billion to the CDC and individual states for vaccine distribution.
- $3 billion to build up the Strategic National Stockpile’s supplies of vaccine
- $22 billion direct aid to states for testing, tracing, and COVID mitigation
- $4.5 billion in additional mental health funding
- $9 billion to support healthcare providers
- $1 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) research into COVID-19
- $1 billion in direct funds to the Indian Health Service
Schools
K-12 schools, colleges, and universities were slated to receive $82 billion to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Following a pattern similar to what was used with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, this funding was divided as follows:
- $818.8 million for the Bureau of Indian Education and outlying areas
- $4.05 billion for the Governors Emergency Education Relief Fund for services to private K-12 schools
- $54.3 billion for the Elementary and Secondary (public K-12 schools) Emergency Relief Fund
- $22.7 billion to the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund
Rent Assistance
State and local governments were responsible for distributing a reported $25 billion in emergency federal rent assistance. The money is targeted at families impacted by COVID-19 who struggle to pay rent and/or owe past due rent payments. Approximately $800 million of these funds are reserved for Native American housing entities.
Note
The CAA also extended the moratorium on evictions first extended by the CARES Act. This moratorium had been extended several times since then.
Federal and state governments still have several emergency rental programs in place, originally worth $46.55 billion. As of April 3, 2023, $25 billion was disbursed with $23.14 billion going to households.
Nutrition and Agriculture
A 15% increase in SNAP benefits and additional funding for food banks and senior nutrition programs costing $13 billion made up half of the $26 billion set aside in this category. It included $614 million for nutrition assistance for Puerto Rico and other territories, emergency funds for school and daycare feeding programs, and improvements in the P-EBT program.
The second $13 billion consisted of direct payments, purchases, and loans to farmers and ranchers who suffered losses due to the pandemic. These funds would be used to support the food supply chain, purchase food, donate to food banks, and support local food systems.
U.S. Postal Service
A CARES Act $10 billion loan to the USPS was converted to direct funding with no required repayment by the CAA legislation. These funds were designed to be used to offset operational costs and expenses resulting from the pandemic.
Childcare
A Child Care and Development Block Grant of $10 billion was allocated through the legislation to provide childcare assistance to families. The funds were also used to help childcare providers cover increased operating costs during the pandemic. Also included in this allotment was $250 million for Head Start providers.
Broadband
Emergency funds totaling $3.2 billion were appropriated to go to low-income families to provide access to broadband Internet through an FCC fund. Those funds began being disbursed on May 12, 2021 as Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) funds.
The CAA broadband appropriation also included a $1 billion tribal broadband fund, $250 million in telehealth funding and $65 million to complete broadband maps to aid in government disbursement of broadband funds. An additional $300 million grant program was set to provide broadband in rural areas. The total set aside for broadband was almost $7 billion.
No Surprises Act
The No Surprises Act contained in Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2021 took a federal approach to the problem of surprise medical billing. Most parts of the act went into effect on Jan. 1, 2022. In the meantime, the Department of Health and Human Services, Treasury, and Department of Labor were instructed to issue regulations and guidance.
The main provisions of the No Surprises Act include:
- Protect patients from surprise medical bills due to gaps in coverage for services provided for emergencies and by out-of-network providers at in-network facilities, including by air ambulances.
- Hold patients liable only for their in-network cost-sharing amount but give providers and insurers the opportunity to negotiate reimbursement.
- Allow providers and insurers to access an independent dispute resolution process in the event disputes arise around reimbursement.
- Require providers and health plans to help patients access health care cost information.
Additional Programs and Extensions
The stimulus extended the Coronavirus Relief Fund created by the CARES Act and the Employee Retention Tax Credit. It also provided a special lookback for the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit for low-income individuals and provided a Contractor Pay Extension, allowing federal agencies to reimburse contractors for the cost of paid leave during the COVID pandemic.
It also extended into 2021 two charitable donation benefits that had been introduced for the 2020 tax year by the CARES Act:
- Taxpayers could continue to deduct charitable donations of up to 100% of their adjusted gross income. It’s generally 60% of AGI.
- Individual taxpayers who don’t itemize their deductions and take the standard deduction were allowed up to a $300 deduction for charitable cash contributions. Married couples who filed jointly and who don’t itemize could deduct up to $600, a provision added by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, but the deduction is no longer above-the-line as it was in 2020.
Comparison With CARES Act and American Rescue Plan
This table compares Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) funding in several key areas with both the CARES Act, which preceded the CAA, and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which followed it.
The American Rescue Plan Act
The Democratic majority began taking steps to pass a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package to deliver further help, called the American Rescue Plan Act, following the inauguration of Joseph R. Biden as president.
The plan was passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021. It called for a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination program, $1,400-per-person relief checks, financial support for small businesses, funding to help schools reopen, expanded and extended unemployment insurance payments, rent subsidies, and more.
The American Rescue Plan also includes a provision that student loan forgiveness issued between Jan. 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2025, will not be taxable to the recipient.
Does the No Surprises Act Apply to Specific Health Care Providers?
Yes, but it’s a loose, large basket. According to CMS.gov, “any physician or other health care provider who is acting within the scope of practice of that provider’s license or certification under applicable State law may be subject to the rules.”
Does the Consolidated Appropriations Act Affect Medicare?
Yes. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ruled on Oct. 28, 2022 to adopt sections of the Act that will make Medicare enrollment easier and will extend coverage of certain immunosuppressive drugs.
Has Subsequent Legislation Affected the Student Loan Provisions?
Provisions of the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students (HEROES) Act for canceling student loan principal debt were overruled by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 30, 2023. The court decided that the ACT did not authorize the U.S. Secretary of Education to grant such relief. But President Joe Biden announced the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan just days later to provide income-driven assistance to student loan borrowers.
The Bottom Line
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 extended numerous provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, some of which were set to expire at the end of 2020. It addresses issues of hunger and public health, broadband capacity for rural Americans, unemployment, education issues, employee retention measures, and some temporary tax breaks.
Ongoing and future legislation may affect some of these provisions so it can be helpful to keep an eye on the news and ongoing events.