The Treasury Department will be accepting comments on its Interim Final Rule on the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program through Friday, July 16, 2021. Comments should be submitted to regulations.gov under Docket TREAS-DO-2021-0008.
More information on eligible uses and how to access the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds can be found on Treasury’s website. TFG produced a Special Report on May 14 summarizing eligible uses of the Funds and other helpful information from Treasury’s guidance.
On May 19, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) offered an amendment to the Endless Frontier Act (S. 1260) to repeal the entire $350 billion Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. Specifically, the amendment would have repealed funding that has not yet been obligated, which is all the funding. The amendment needed 60 votes to pass but failed along party lines by a vote of 47-50.
Congress and the White House are continuing efforts to come to an agreement on infrastructure legislation. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, and several other Senate Republican leaders met with senior Biden Administration officials, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, on May 18 to discuss the Senate Republicans’ latest infrastructure offer. Senator Capito promised on May 13 to present a counteroffer early this week, although no details were publicly released. The White House is expected to make a counteroffer within days and plans to “follow up” with the Senate Republicans by Friday. The White House also said it was encouraged by the talks on May 18, even as lawmakers said the session yielded no agreement on an overall spending figure or on how to pay for it.
Capitol Hill. On May 18, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services—General Government held a hearing on “The Need for Universal Broadband: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The hearing explored how the lack of broadband affects rural communities, the connectivity issues facing communities of color, and the challenges of small Internet providers. It also focused on how broadband might make the federal government more efficient and effective and how the FCC can support universal broadband efforts.
On May 18, the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Tourism, Trade, and Export Promotion held a hearing on “Reviving International Travel and Tourism to Create and Restore Jobs.” The hearing examined the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on international travel to the U.S., with a particular focus on ripple-effects on other industries, such as hospitality and tourism. It also reviewed regional impacts of COVID-19 on the communities and workers hardest hit by decreases in international travel to the United States.
On May 19, the House Oversight Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis held a hearing on “Examining Emergent BioSolutions’ Failure to Protect Public Health and Public Funds.” The hearing examined how Emergent’s failure to maintain its manufacturing facilities, train its staff, and comply with FDA standards led to the destruction of millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines, including up to 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at a facility in Baltimore, Maryland, and how these failures may impact vaccination efforts. The Subcommittee also released its initial findings from its investigation into Emergent BioSolutions.
On May 19, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on “COVID-19 Health Care Flexibilities: Perspectives, Experiences, and Lessons Learned.” The hearing covered how telehealth policies have worked in practice during the course of the pandemic and how to make these changes permanent moving forward.
On May 19, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearing on “COVID-19 Part II: Evaluating the Medical Supply Chain and Pandemic Response Gaps.” The hearing focused on vulnerabilities in the U.S. medical supply chain exposed last year as the U.S. struggled to secure needed supplies to combat the spread of COVID-19. The hearing also explored commonsense solutions to ensure that the U.S. is better prepared in the event of a future crisis and how the medical supply chain can be strengthened to prevent a similar disaster in the future.
On May 19, GAO sent a report to Congress on “COVID-19 in Nursing Homes.” GAO’s report found that 94% of the nursing homes included in its review experienced more than one coronavirus outbreak between May 2020 and January 2021. Eighty-five percent of the nursing homes it reviewed experienced outbreaks lasting five weeks or longer, with the majority of long-duration outbreaks starting between October and December 2020.
Administration. HHS announced the allocation of $5 billion in American Rescue Plan funds for emergency housing vouchers for individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness.
Treasury distributed $742 million through the Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF). Part of the American Rescue Plan, HAF was designed to prevent mortgage delinquencies and defaults, foreclosures, loss of utilities or home energy services, and displacement of homeowners experiencing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 public health crisis.
FEMA released the COVID-19 Pandemic Operational Guidance: All-Hazards Incident Response and Recovery, a document aimed at helping emergency managers plan for disaster response and recovery while adhering to public health guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
FCC announced its Emergency Broadband Benefit program has enrolled more than one million households. Over 900 broadband providers are participating in the program which provides a $50 monthly discount on broadband service.
DOT noted travelers are still required to wear a mask on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within, or out of the United States, and in U.S. transportation hubs such as airports and stations.
USDA will purchase up to $159.4 million in domestically produced seafood, fruits, legumes, and nuts for distribution to a variety of domestic food assistance programs.
IRS Notice 2021-31 provides guidance for employers, plan administrators, and health insurers regarding the new credit available to them for providing continuation health coverage to certain individuals under COBRA. IRS also will begin issuing refunds this week to eligible taxpayers who paid taxes on 2020 unemployment compensation that the recently-enacted American Rescue Plan later excluded from taxable income.
IRS and Treasury announced the first monthly payment of the expanded and newly-advanceable Child Tax Credit (CTC) from the American Rescue Plan will be made on July 15. Roughly 39 million households — covering 88% of children in the United States — are slated to begin receiving monthly payments without any further action required.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland directed the establishment of the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to partner with agencies across government to enhance enforcement efforts against COVID-19 related fraud.
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Restrictions on nonessential travel across the U.S.-Canadian border will be extended through June. The report comes out before the most recent extension is set to expire. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested three-quarters of Canadians would have to be vaccinated before the border could be reopened.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced this week that Lollapalooza (July 29 – August 1), the annual Chicago hosted music festival, is set to return this summer at full capacity. Attendees will have to be fully vaccinated or show a negative coronavirus test.
Vaccine News
At least 600,000 kids in the United States ages 12 to 15 have already received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine nearly a week after the CDC recommended the Pfizer-BioNTech shot for the age group. In total, roughly 56% of the U.S. population ages 12 and up have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, with 44% fully vaccinated.
The federal government is lifting mask requirements for vaccinated people in its buildings and in national parks. A notice from the Office of Management and Budget sent to all federal government agencies lifts the mask requirement for anyone two weeks post-vaccine.
The White House announced the U.S. will share an additional 20 million doses of domestically authorized coronavirus vaccines with the rest of the world by the end of June. The vaccine exports will consist of doses from either Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech or Johnson & Johnson.
Robert Kramer, CEO of Emergent BioSolutions, shared that the company could resume manufacturing doses of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine within a matter of days after the FDA paused production and essentially quarantined the remaining doses on hand to conduct thorough quality checks. The resumption of manufacturing would be a major boon to the U.S. vaccination effort.
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