COVID Response

Overview

The Office of Planning and Budget is the prime recipient of the Coronavirus Relief Fund, Emergency Rental Assistance Program, and State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. Other funds made available through federal relief acts are directly allocated to other state and local entities. 

American Rescue Plan Act

The American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law on March 11, 2021. It is the sixth COVID-19 relief bill enacted and provides approximately $1.9 trillion in assistance. It includes fiscal relief funding for state and local governments, education, housing, food assistance, and additional grant programs. 

For more information about these grants and their disbursement across the state, please visit their pages.

State Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Grant Programs

 

Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF)

Under the CARES Act, the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) is to be used to make payments for specified uses to states and local governments. In total, the State of Georgia received $4.12 billion. Georgia jurisdictions with populations over 500,000 received direct Treasury payments: $614 million. Additional to Georgia, CRF provided for state or other local jurisdiction needs: $3.5 billion.

In order to qualify for CRF, the expense request must satisfy these three items:

  1. Necessary expenditures incurred due to the COVID-19 public health emergency;
  2. Costs not accounted for in the most recently approved budget as of March 27, 2020; and
  3. Costs were incurred between March 1, 2020 and December 30, 2020. 

FEMA eligible expenditures may include:

  • personal protective equipment,
  •  COVID testing,
  • overtime for staff working in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic, or
  • sanitization supplies or cleanings in excess of routine purchases.

CRF eligible expenditures may include:

  • regular pay and benefits costs for employees who are substantially dedicated to COVID-19 mitigation,
  • costs associated with purchasing or deploying equipment to enable telework or online instruction as part of social distancing, or
  •  increased risk pool or health care costs associated with pandemic response.

GEMA Coronavirus Information

CRSSA