Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021
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| Announced in | the 116th United States Congress |
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| Legislative history | |
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The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (H.R. 133) is a proposed $2.3 trillion[1] spending bill that combines $900 billion in relief of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States with a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill for the 2021 federal fiscal year that avoids a government shutdown.[2][3] If signed into law, the bill would be "among the largest ever passed in Congress, coming in just ahead of March’s $2.2 trillion CARES Act."[1] According to the Associated Press, at 5,593 pages, the legislation is "by far the longest bill ever."[4]
The bill was passed by both houses of Congress on December 21, 2020.[5][6][7]
Legislative history
Even at the end when negotiations were almost final, the need for extra time to resolve a few issues was such that several short-term continuing resolutions had to be passed, first extending funding for one week through December 18,[8] then extending it by another two days through December 20,[9] and then a third time to add on one extra day through December 21.[10] By but the time of the final votes, as Politico reported at the time, "Democratic and Republican leaders are confident they have the votes for passage for one of the largest relief packages in U.S. history, despite grumbling from both sides about the dysfunctional process that led to this point."[11]
On the last of these days, logistical challenges arose as the bill, which was comprised of some 5,500 pages of text, proved difficult to physically assemble due to printer malfunctions and a corrupted file containing one of the component parts of the legislative verbiage.[3] Senator John Thune of South Dakota remarked, "Unfortunately, it's a bad time to have a computer glitch."[3]
The delays meant that the two votes in Congress would be delayed late into the evening.[11] Several members of both parties voiced unhappiness with such a large bill being presented to them with little time to understand what was inside it. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York wrote, "It’s not good enough to hear about what’s in the bill. Members of Congress need to see & read the bills we are expected to vote on," while Representative Michael Burgess of Texas said, "This is a tough way to legislate, to save everything til the very end and then pass a very large bill."[11]
Provisions
Coronavirus relief
The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 is Division M of the legislation, and Division N contains additional coronavirus provisions. It is a follow-on to such actions as the CARES Act and Paycheck Protection Program passed in the spring of 2020, and comes after eight months of mostly little progress in negotiations between the different parties and houses of Congress.[11][12] Many of the negotiations made little progress due to strongly held policy differences being contested.[11] The incumbent president, having lost his bid for re-election, generally played little role in the discussions.[11]
The pandemic relief portion of the bill "includes about $325 billion in small business relief, including $284 billion in forgivable loans for small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program; an extension of boosted federal unemployment benefits at $300 a week through March 14, 2021, and a second $600 stimulus check for Americans earning less than $75,000."[12]
Regular appropriations
The regular annual appropriations bills comprise Divisions A through L of the bill. Among these provisions are:
- $1.375 billion for "President Trump’s border wall";
- $5 million for the creation of "a database to track police misconduct";
- Hyde Amendment, which "prevents federal funds from being used for abortions"[1]
Other provisions
Divisions O through Z and AA through FF contain additional, unrelated legislation.
Some of the regular appropriations were also added in near the end, in what members of Congress refer to as "loading up the Christmas tree".[11]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Elis, Niv. "Congress unveils $2.3 trillion government spending and virus relief package". The Hill. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ^ "Virus Relief Bill Released Hours Before Vote: Congress Update". Bloomberg. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ^ a b c Lahut, Jake. "'A bad time to have a computer glitch': COVID-19 stimulus bill text delayed by printer errors and internet issues". Business Insider. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ^ Taylor, Andrew. "House passes $900 billion COVID relief, catchall measure". Associated Press. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- ^ Foran, Clare; Raju, Manu. "House approves $900 billion Covid rescue package, sending it to the Senate". CNN. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- ^ Stein, Jeff; DeBonis, Mike. "Senate approves huge spending package, sends economic relief measure to Trump for enactment". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
- ^ Carney, Jordain. "Congress passes $2.3T coronavirus relief, government funding deal". TheHill.com. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
- ^ DeBonis, Mike; Stein, Jeff; Kim, Seung Min. "Trump signs one-week spending bill to avert midnight shutdown". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
- ^ Carney, Jordain (2020-12-18). "Congress passes bill to avert shutdown as coronavirus talks drag into weekend". The Hill. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
- ^ Rahman, Rema (2020-12-20). "House adopts 1-day stopgap bill to prevent government shutdown". The Hill. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
- ^ a b c d e f g SARAH FERRIS, MELANIE ZANONA and ANDREW DESIDERIO (December 21, 2020). "Congress poised to pass massive stimulus after computer glitch delays text". Politico.
- ^ a b Henney, Megan. "Congress unveils massive $900B COVID government spending bill after months of negotiations". Fox News. Retrieved 21 December 2020.