Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to help the nation recover from the effects of COVID-19. The bill (H.R. 1319) includes $1.9 trillion to fund COVID-19 response, testing and vaccination campaigns. It also will help states, territories, tribes, localities, and individual Americans cope with the economic consequences of the pandemic. It passed the U.S. Senate over the weekend.
The bill includes:
- $100 million for the AFG program.
- $200 million for the SAFER grant program.
- Legislation allowing fire and EMS agencies to be reimbursed by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services for treating patients in place and not transporting them to the hospital per community-wide EMS protocols.
- $100 million for the Emergency Management Performance Grants.
- $80 million for the Health Resources and Services Administration to reduce behavioral health conditions like suicide & burnout for health professions and public safety officers.
- $20 million for to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for a mental health & substance use disorder campaign for health care professionals and first responders.
- $50 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
- $219.8 billion for a Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund to respond to COVID-19 and replace lost revenue.
- $130.2 billion for a Coronavirus Local Recovery Fund to respond to COVID-19 and replace lost revenue, of which:
- $45.57 billion is for metropolitan cities.
- $19.53 billion is for non-entitlement units of local government.
- $65.1 billion is for counties.
- $7.5 billion for vaccine administration and distribution.
- $7.66 billion for building the public health workforce in state, territorial & local public health departments.
- $100 million for the Medical Reserve Corps.
- $8.5 billion for health care providers and suppliers for health care expenses and lost revenue.
- $47.8 billion for COVID-19 testing, tracing, and monitoring.
President Biden is expected to sign this legislation.