Fact check: Breaking down spending in the COVID-19 relief bill

[TomCADem]

Republicans are arguing that less than 10 percent of the bill is pandemic related based on the fact that this is the rough figure that goes to direct containment measures such as vaccines and testing, which is a pretty narrow definition of what is related to the pandemic. To the contrary, an analysis by a nonpartisan group found that about 85% of the bill is related to the coronavirus pandemic.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/03/02/fact-check-breaking-down-spending-covid-19-relief-bill/6887487002/

About 22% of the total bill comes from the $422 billion set aside for $1,400-per-person stimulus checks. Another 13% ($246 billion) is for extending additional unemployment funding of $400 a week.

A combined 12% is going to:

Subsidized COBRA for laid-off workers.
Affordable Care Act subsidies for the next two years.
Expanded nutrition assistance to replace school lunch programs during the pandemic.
Funding for testing and contact tracing.
Disaster Relief Fund increases and covering COVID-19-related funeral expenses.
Grants to airlines and contractors to freeze layoffs through September.
Defense Production Act funding for medical supplies.
Grants for restaurants and bars that have lost revenue in the pandemic.
Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance grants of up to $10,000 per business.

Another $519 billion – 27% of the total – is going to state and local governments and schools, much of which will make up losses related to the pandemic and help schools reopen. Republicans note much of the school funding, however, won’t be spent immediately.

If the government and school aid is included in this category, about 85% of the American Rescue Plan is pandemic-related, according to a breakdown by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

[murielm99]

1. Thank you.

This is not a long article, and it is worthwhile to click the link and read all the details.

Posts like this one are why I still read DU after all these years.

[abqtommy]

2. K&R

[underpants]

3. Good info. Since this was published yesterday 3 of the 5 things here are no longer in the bill

PolitiFact rated "Mostly True" a claim from conservative Stand for America that the bill contains unrelated projects. Examples cited in that fact check included a $1.5 million bridge connecting New York and Canada; a $100 million underground rail project in Silicon Valley; $480 million for Native American language preservation and maintenance; and $50 million in environmental justice grants. The bill would also raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and change pension funding rules.

Ironically the original 9% bullshit (does that even sound reasonable?) turns out to be:

The 9% figure is actually what is going to fund direct disease containment measures such as vaccines, testing and tracing, and other public health initiatives.

[TomCADem]

4. The Thing Is That The Vast Bulk of the Bill Should Be a No Brainer

Vaccine funding. Backfill for state and local governments due to the pandemic. Unemployment insurance. Funding for school reopenings. Even Republican local officials support these steps.

Yet, you have Republicans like Rob Johnson opposing this simply because they need to show their pro-Trump in opposing Biden, if not purposely trying to plunge the country into a recession to regain power.