Consolidated Appropriations Act
On December 21, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes both general government funding and coronavirus relief provisions. While the coronavirus relief provisions include some urgently needed aid, Congress once again failed to meet the needs of people with disabilities. We urge the incoming Biden Administration and Congress to begin work on a new coronavirus relief package quickly in January. The bill is expected to be signed into law shortly.
The COVID-19 relief provisions do not include dedicated funding for home and community-based services (HCBS) that is urgently needed to help disabled people and older adults live safely in their homes rather than being forced into nursing homes and other congregate settings where COVID-19 is rampant. Additional stimulus checks are also provided, but adults with disabilities who qualify as dependents are again unfairly excluded.
The government funding portion of the bill, however, does extend funding for the Money Follows the Person (MFP) program for three years, along with spousal impoverishment protections.
For more on the bill, check out our fact sheet. A comparison of the Consolidated Appropriations Act and other recent coronavirus relief proposals is also available here.
Congress has also released the following summaries of the bill:
- Section-by-section summaries:
- One page summaries:
Revised HEROES Act
On October 1, 2020, the House passed a revised version of the HEROES Act, which it originally passed back in May. It has a lower cost estimate than the original HEROES Act, but the list of included priorities largely remains the same.
For more on what priorities are and are not included in the revised bill, check out our summary here. For a quick comparison of the how the revised HEROES Act (also known as HEROES 2.0) compares with the Senate’s coronavirus relief proposals, click here.
Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (HEALS) Act
The Senate released this proposal on July 27, 2020. The package was released as a series of bills instead of one single bill. Below are details on those bills. For more on what priorities are and are not included in the HEALS Act, check out our summary here and for a quick comparison of the HEALS Act and the HEROES Act, click here.
- Coronavirus Response Additional Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 (Text | Summary)
- SAFE TO WORK Act (Text | Summary)
- Safely Back to Work and Back to School Act (Summary)
- American Workers, Families, and Employers Assistance Act (S.4318) (Text | Summary)
- Time to Rescue United States Trusts Act of 2020 (TRUST Act) (Text | Summary)
- Restoring Critical Supply Chains and Intellectual Property Act (Text)
- Continuing Small Business Recovery and Paycheck Protection Program Act (Text | Summary)
- Supporting America’s Restaurant Workers Act (Text)
Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act (H.R. 6800)
The House released this proposed fourth relief package in May 2020. Bill text is available here and a section-by-section summary is available here. The House also released a one page summary of bill and a one page summary of state and local fiscal relief provisions.
For more on what priorities are and are not included in the HEROES Act, check out our summary here and for a quick comparison of the HEROES Act and the HEALS Act, click here.