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HOW COVID RELIEF STACKS UP
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews ([link removed])
Correspondent

Tiny compared to what would later come, Congress’ first emergency funding for COVID-19 -- a week before the pandemic was officially declared -- totaled $8 billion, much of it set aside for vaccine development.

Since then, the pile of crisis legislation has added up to trillions and put our spreadsheet skills to the test. But we are undaunted! As we steady ourselves for the next COVID-19 variant, this seemed a good time to take a closer look at how the country has responded so far.

Giving Tuesday: ([link removed]) Double your gift ([link removed]) to PBS NewsHour by midnight! ([link removed])

Relief and Rescue Bills

There are a few ways to count pandemic support, but when looking at the major COVID relief bills, by their common names, we tally eight:
* The Coronavirus Supplemental, as mentioned above. $8.3 billion. This comparatively small measure, enacted on March 6, 2020, helped stand up the vaccine effort, gave states a billion dollars for health response and spent another billion for global aid.
* Families First Act. $192 billion. This hodgepodge bill, enacted on March 18, 2020, gave a major boost to Medicaid food programs for low-income families, and required certain employers to offer paid sick or family leave for employees dealing with COVID.
* CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act. Estimated $1.7 trillion. At the time one of the largest single spending bills in history, CARES was enacted on March 27, 2020, and launched cornerstone relief initiatives: the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to keep small businesses going, $600 in weekly unemployment benefits, and $150 billion for states and local governments.
* Three extensions of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). More than $400 billion. These were passed in April, June and July of 2020 as Congress and the Trump administration were getting their arms around the scale of the need.
* The Consolidated Appropriations Act, aka the “Response and Relief” Act. $868 billion. This megabill, enacted Dec. 27, 2020, also contained the usual, yearly government spending.

* The American Rescue Act. Roughly $1.86 trillion. The first of the bills to be passed along lopsidedly partisan lines, Democrats passed the Rescue Act to provide $300 more per week to the unemployed, increase the child tax credit and send Americans $1,400 in direct payment checks. The bill, which was enacted March 11, 2021, also included programs to help restaurants and entertainment venues.

Next question. What did those programs accomplish? What do we know about who was helped?

We looked at and requested the most recent figures for some of the largest programs. Here’s what we found.
* Small businesses. The Paycheck Protection Program approved more than 11 million loans to small businesses, forgiving some or all of 8.7 million loans. Total spent: More than $791 billion.
* State and local governments. Many state and local jurisdictions are still sorting out how to spend the direct relief money they’ve received, with expanding broadband being a popular category. The National Association of Counties has a good look here ([link removed]) at what the money means for its members. Total spent: More than $500 billion from the CARES and American Rescue Acts combined.
* Funerals. Congress approved an open-ended program to pay up to $9,000 for every COVID-related funeral. According to FEMA ([link removed]) , the program paid benefits out to more than 196,000 families as of Nov. 1. Total spent: More than $1.2 billion.
* Theaters and museums. The “shuttered venues” program provided up to 45 percent of lost revenue to entertainment and other large-group businesses and nonprofits, from concert halls to museums. The SBA reports ([link removed]) that more than 18,000 venues received money from initial and supplemental funding. Total spent: $12.5 billion.

* Restaurant revitalization. This program, intended to cover pandemic revenue losses, fell far short of the need. Per the SBA ([link removed]) , nearly 300,000 restaurants applied for help. But only about a third of them -- 101,000 -- received help before the program ran out of money. Total spent: Roughly $28.6 billion.

These are just a few of the headlining programs. Some funding is still making its way out. We are still sorting out how many people received mortgage or rent help, for example.
And there have long been reports ([link removed]) and concerns about fraud ([link removed]) . The F.B.I and Department of Justice set up a fraud alert ([link removed]) to warn Americans about scams attempting to portray a connection to COVID relief.
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WHAT OUR READERS SAID ABOUT A BBB WAGE PROPOSAL
By Joshua Barajas, @Josh_Barrage ([link removed])
Senior Editor, Digital

A couple weeks ago, Here’s the Deal took a closer look at a wage proposal ([link removed]) in the Build Back Better bill. It seeks to end the practice of paying workers with disabilities lower than minimum wage. This is a practice that’s been legally in place for more than eight decades.

The bill would fund $324 million to help employers shift away from this practice, including issuing grants that would allow them to pay employees with disabilities at minimum wage or higher.

Several readers emailed us to share their thoughts about the proposal. One throughline in the responses: This issue is complex, and any legislation must be mindful of the different needs and realities among workers with disabilities.

Kandace Penner of Gainesville, Florida, wrote that she understands that there are people with disabilities who, with accommodations, “can do a normal competitive job and should of course be accommodated and paid at least minimum wage.” That said, she wrote that some people seem to be unaware of people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) that are “severe enough to make them unable to do any normal competitive job.”

One person is her daughter Brandy, who has moderate cerebral palsy. Penner said she and her husband were committed to efforts to help Brandy learn the skills for a competitive job. But it hasn’t been possible. Penner said Brandy liked working at her skill level, going to a job where she shredded paper, but she needed a companion to be with her while she did it.

“Brandy and thousands like her, who have some skills and some understanding and desire to work, will not be able to work in the community at a competitive job paying minimum wage. The only way it could work would be to pay a 1-on-1 companion to be with the person every day at work, to help them do the parts of the job they can’t do, to keep them from small accidents or missteps that affect them or their work pieces,” Penner wrote.

Sharon Marshall is an executive board officer for a nonprofit workshop in Harrisonville, Missouri, called Casco, which has helped people with disabilities in Cass County for about four decades. She wrote that the organization wants to retain the minimum wage exemption to continue its operations, writing that, in Missouri, “wages our workers make come directly from businesses willing to pay for the unique abilities our workers have.”

She added: “Not everyone with disabilities is blind, or physically disabled. Many of our (approximately) 200 workers are compounded with mental disabilities they were born with. We provide a place – a safe place – for them to not only have meaningful work but to work with friends, and to have a social life away from their homes. Working for less than minimum wage (it is complex but the wages are based on time studies per task and uses prevailing wage as a base) allows them to remain in assisted living or group homes, receive their Medicare or Medicaid, receive their social security from disability benefits, and still have a life that is rich with laughter, communal goals, and fun.”

Sarah Johnson of upstate New York developed a disability in 2020. After multiple rounds of eye surgery, her right eye was rendered non-functional. Since then, she said she’s had to navigate the world with one eye, adding that -- officially and legally -- she’s not considered “low vision.” When applying for jobs, she’s been trying to determine if she should reveal her eye issue.

“I tell you all of this because most ‘normal’ people have no idea what it is like to go through something like this,” Johnson wrote. “And friends have referred to me as handicapped, to my face, without thinking about how that might feel. I have not let this condition stop my work as a historian.”

She asked the NewsHour to dig deeper into this wage proposal because “the hard thing about it is it is not a one-size-fits-all problem. My eye issues are unrelated to someone on the autism spectrum or someone in a wheelchair.”

She then closed with a reminder to non-disabled audiences: “Person first, disability second.”
WE WANT YOUR QUESTIONS! What do you want to know about the current draft of the Build Back Better plan? You can reach us at [email protected].

WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS: REP. CARRIE MEEK
By Ian Couzens, @iancouzenz ([link removed])
Politics production assistant


In this 1980 photo, Rep. Carrie Meek wears a t-shirt in the Florida House chamber that reads, "A woman's place is in the House and the Senate.” Photograph by Donn Dughi, courtesy of the State Archives of Florida.

Carrie P. Meek, a groundbreaking Democrat who was one of the first Black lawmakers to represent Florida in Congress since the Reconstruction era, died on Sunday in Miami. She was 95.

Meek achieved that congressional milestone in 1992 -- at 66 -- when she won the Democratic primary in her Miami-Dade County district, and ran unopposed in the general election.


In this 1982 photo, then-Florida state senator Carrie Meek waves a skull and crossbones flag during a session. She was warning against not funding a consumer advocate group at Florida State University. Photograph by Donn Dughi, courtesy of the State Archives of Florida

Before that, Meek was already known as a trailblazer in her field. She was the first Black professor, associate dean, and assistant to the Vice President at Miami Dade Community College. In 1978, she beat out 12 other candidates in a race for Florida's House of Representatives. Five years later, she became the first Black woman elected to the Florida Senate. It was during this time she developed a reputation as a fierce politician and a passionate advocate for her community.

The grandchild of a slave and a daughter to sharecropper parents, she fought for change around the country and the needs of her community. She championed issues like affirmative action, welfare, and worked to promote democracy abroad in places like Haiti. After leaving Congress in 2002, she moved back to her district where she continued to work on these issues through the Carrie Meek Foundation, until her death.

#POLITICSTRIVIA
By Tess Conciatori, @tkconch ([link removed])
Politics producer

Today is the birthday of a late political icon who broke barriers as the first Black candidate to seek a major party’s nomination for president. That campaign inspired now-Vice President Kamala Harris in her own White House ticket; Harris’ logo paid tribute to this political predecessor.

Our question: Can you name that politician?

Send your answers to or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.

Last week, we asked: Which president officially declared Thanksgiving to be held on the fourth Thursday of November?

The answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Congratulations to our winners: Tim Smith and Robert Schmid!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.

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