The Wolf administration’s budget office recently published information about how the state spent more than $63 billion in COVID-19 relief money over the last two years. That’s about $4,861 for every person living in the state. The original data can be found on the state’s Open Data portal.
The vast majority of the funds — 99.5% — came from a series of federal allocations, including the CARES Act, the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, and the Stafford Act. The state spent $334.6 million of its own money, accounting for just over 0.5% of the total.
The budget document notes that state matching funds for federal grants are not included in the report since most matching requirement were waived during at least part of the pandemic emergency.
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The Governor’s Budget Office defines eight program areas that get assigned to all government spending. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority — 82% — of the COVID-19 spending was assigned to health and human services functions, which should not be confused with the Department of Human Services. The second highest allocation amount — almost 7% — was assigned to Direction and Supportive Services — essentially, administration and oversight.
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The chart below shows how the $63 billion was allocated among 19 departments. About two-thirds of all allocations went to the state Department of Labor & Industry, which manages unemployment and worker’s compensation benefits, as well as employment training and labor law enforcement.
The Dept. of Human Services oversees a variety of services, including medical assistance, SNAP food support, cash assistance, housing and heating assistance, child welfare and early learning, mental health programs and abuse programs. One of DHS’s largest areas of activity is disabilities and aging, where it oversees more than 1,000 assisted-living facilities for the elderly and those with special physical, emotional and developmental needs.
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The $63 billion was used in 393 funds within the 19 government departments. The searchable table below shows the top 125 fund allocations. There is a guide to common abbreviations below the table.
The majority of the funds went for programs to put money into the pockets of people who were furloughed or laid off during the pandemic. Other large allocations were for medical assistance, education, housing support, corrections and skilled nursing or long-term care facilities.
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