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WP_Query Object ( [query] => Array ( [name] => legislative-outcomes-of-pandemic [post_type] => resources [resource-type] => data-driven-insights ) [query_vars] => Array ( [name] => legislative-outcomes-of-pandemic [post_type] => resources [resource-type] => data-driven-insights [error] => [m] => [p] => 0 [post_parent] => [subpost] => [subpost_id] => [attachment] => [attachment_id] => 0 [pagename] => [page_id] => 0 [second] => [minute] => [hour] => [day] => 0 [monthnum] => 0 [year] => 0 [w] => 0 [category_name] => [tag] => [cat] => [tag_id] => [author] => [author_name] => [feed] => [tb] => [paged] => 0 [meta_key] => [meta_value] => [preview] => [s] => [sentence] => [title] => [fields] => [menu_order] => [embed] => [category__in] => Array ( ) [category__not_in] => Array ( ) [category__and] => Array ( ) [post__in] => Array ( ) [post__not_in] => Array ( ) [post_name__in] => Array ( ) [tag__in] => Array ( ) [tag__not_in] => Array ( ) [tag__and] => Array ( ) [tag_slug__in] => Array ( ) [tag_slug__and] => Array ( ) [post_parent__in] => Array ( ) [post_parent__not_in] => Array ( ) [author__in] => Array ( ) [author__not_in] => Array ( ) [search_columns] => Array ( ) [ignore_sticky_posts] => [suppress_filters] => [cache_results] => 1 [update_post_term_cache] => 1 [update_menu_item_cache] => [lazy_load_term_meta] => 1 [update_post_meta_cache] => 1 [posts_per_page] => 10 [nopaging] => [comments_per_page] => 50 [no_found_rows] => [order] => DESC ) [tax_query] => [meta_query] => WP_Meta_Query Object ( [queries] => Array ( ) [relation] => [meta_table] => [meta_id_column] => [primary_table] => [primary_id_column] => [table_aliases:protected] => Array ( ) [clauses:protected] => Array ( ) [has_or_relation:protected] => ) [date_query] => [queried_object] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 6630 [post_author] => 43 [post_date] => 2022-04-20 18:42:27 [post_date_gmt] => 2022-04-20 18:42:27 [post_content] => Much of American life has been shaped by COVID-19. Words like “social-distancing,” “zoom,” and “quarantine” entered the lexicon of American vocabulary. In the early COVID days we were baking our own bread, fervently hunting down toilet paper rolls, and sewing our own fabric masks. Similarly, pandemic-related legislation has greatly impacted and altered the role of federal, state, and local governments. Much of the early legislative action taken to combat the pandemic provided financial support to households, businesses, and state and local governments. Other notable legislative actions taken by federal and state governments included pandemic mandates — which set public health standards to enforce social distancing, mask policies, and vaccine mandates. [stat align="right" number="$2.3 trillion" text="amount added to government's 2020 budget deficit due to COVID-19"]At the start of the pandemic in March and April 2020, Congress enacted four federal bills containing COVID provisions that attempted to offset the effects of the COVID-related economic downturn. According to a 2021 report from the Congressional Budget Office, pandemic-related legislation added $2.3 trillion to the budget deficit during the government’s 2020 fiscal year and $.6 trillion during the 2021 fiscal year.

What Legislation Has Been Passed?

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), pandemic-related legislation will continue to affect the American economy in both the short term and long term. The COVID-19 legislation passed by Congress distributed stimulus checks to 169 million Americans, expanded the Child Tax Credit, established an eviction moratorium, and temporarily paused monthly federal student loan payments. Here is a complete list of COVID legislation passed by Congress so far, listed in reverse chronological order. The short-term and long-term effects of pandemic legislation have shown mixed results that ultimately affect everyday Americans’ income distribution, access to medical care, and housing security.

Short Term Effects of Legislation

The Congressional Budget Office’s 2021 Report on the effects of pandemic-related legislation states the pandemic made a short-term impact on the American economy in a variety of ways. Financial aid in the form of PPP loans, stimulus checks, and pausing federal loan payments provided a short-term boost to economic activity. [callout align="left" heading="The AHLA rallied members to share their stories with their members of Congress about how COVID-19 impacted their lives. " button_text="Read how they used Quorum to make their voices heard. " button_link="https://www.quorum.us/case-studies/ahla-grassroots-stories-covid/"]Additionally, pandemic mandates, like the social distancing guidelines implemented in early March 2020, helped ease the public health emergency. Guidelines and mandates helped lessen the severity of the pandemic but did have an effect on the amount of legislation and federal funding the government had to pay out to combat the economic impact of the pandemic. For example, when stay-at-home orders were mandated, spending by individuals and businesses lessened, which hit the hospitality industry particularly hard. As social distancing measures were reduced and lifted, both individuals and businesses began to spend more as they re-entered non-essential businesses like restaurants, gyms, and hotels. The tax credits and stimulus checks distributed to the American public by bills like the American Rescue Plan Act boosted the demand for goods and services. The federal loans, grants, and tax benefits distributed under the CARES Act helped businesses that experienced financial troubles. This federal assistance also helped local governments cover the costs of rising expenditures. Federal payments to healthcare providers helped cover the cost of testing and treating COVID-19. According to the CBO, economic output is still projected to remain below its potential as inflation continues to rise. Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, the inflation rate was two percent. During the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation soared to 8.5 percent in March 2022, the highest rate in more than three decades. Inflation is dominating the conversation both online and in both chambers by public officials, with Republicans honing in on inflation as their strategy and messaging ahead of the midterms. One report using Quorum data found that Republicans are saying “inflation” six times more frequently than the rate of Democrats from January 2022 through April 12, 2022.

Long Term Effects of Legislation

As the pandemic rages on, the long-term effects of pandemic-related legislation increases federal debt as a GDP percentage. Potential long-term economic impacts of the pandemic include a rise in borrowing costs, lower economic output, and a reduction in the income of U.S. households and businesses. These carry along with them the increased risk of a financial crisis and a risk of high inflation rates sticking around. Americans are already feeling the long-term impact of pandemic-related legislation on the economy. According to a March 2021 poll from Pew Research, 51 percent of Americans who are not retired stated that the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has made it harder for them in the long run to achieve their financial goals.

Unique Pandemic-Related Legislation

With the outbreak of COVID-19 and related lockdown measures, legislators had to get creative to help small businesses stay open during the pandemic. Local provisions allowed businesses to open “streateries” — seating that extended restaurants’ ability to serve patrons safely, outdoors.  States with strict alcohol rules relaxed them to allow alcohol and mixed drinks to be taken “to-go” or ordered for delivery. Streateries and to-go alcohol have become such widely supported measures beyond the pandemic. As the pandemic has continued and citizens become more accustomed to these new norms, cities like D.C. are looking to make streateries measure permanent beyond when the pandemic ends. 20 states voted to make to-go cocktails permanently allowed past the end of the pandemic.

What Vaccine Legislation Has Been Passed?

The COVID-19 economic relief packages received widespread support, like the American Rescue Plan, there are mixed opinions on vaccine legislation and vaccine mandates, in particular. The federal government left it mainly up to the state legislators to set vaccine mandates and legislation for their states. As a result, vaccine mandates vary state by state and can range from mandating public and private employees to have at least one COVID vaccine all the way to the other extreme where some states have banned any mandates on vaccinations. Other states lack policy on vaccine mandates altogether, leaving it up to individual citizens and private businesses on what rules they want to set. [stat align="right" number="18" text="number of states that implemented their own state-specific vaccine mandates"]18 states implemented their own vaccine mandates for state employees. In retaliation to the federal vaccine mandate from the White House, 13 states have banned forms of vaccine mandates (see sheet below). 19 states have implemented neither a vaccine mandate nor a ban on vaccine mandates, leaving it up to individual employers. States like Florida and Texas that banned vaccine mandates were motivated to do so in direct response to national vaccine mandate policies implemented by President Biden in 2021. In addition to the state bills listed in the above sheet banning vaccine mandates, three states banned all vaccine mandates via executive order from governors — Arizona, Georgia, and Texas.[callout align="right" heading="Learn how the pandemic expanded gubernatorial power" button_text="Go deeper" button_link="https://www.quorum.us/blog/state-governors-executive-power/"] As COVID vaccines became widely available, President Biden issued an executive order requiring all federal employees and federal contractors be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The Biden administration then expanded this policy in November 2021 with the COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), which mandates all employers with 100 or more employees require staff to be fully vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. Additionally, the Biden administration mandated The New Vaccination Requirements for Health Care Workers, which requires healthcare workers at facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid to be fully vaccinated. These federal mandates have been tested in federal court. As of April 7, 2022, federal appeals courts have upheld the vaccine mandate for all federal workers and contractors. The Supreme Court held two special hearings in January 2022 on the enforceability of two of President Biden’s vaccine mandates — one on the vaccine mandate for all employers with 100 or more employees and one on the vaccine mandate for all healthcare workers. President Biden’s expansion of vaccine mandates to all employers with 100 or more employees was struck down by the Supreme Court in January 2022 in a 5-4 decision. In another 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers in facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid.

Legislative Outcomes

The COVID-19 pandemic has left its mark on both American life and legislation. The economic impacts of pandemic-related legislation is constantly shifting as public health experts develop new ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and restrictions are adjusted based on the level of spread. There are many factors that influence the battle against the pandemic, such as social distancing and mask mandates, that will inevitably impact pandemic-related legislation and the economic impact of the pandemic. If COVID-19 positive cases decrease and social distancing decreases, the American economy will experience more growth than current estimates predict. [post_title] => Legislative Outcomes of the Pandemic So Far [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => legislative-outcomes-of-pandemic [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2022-04-20 18:42:27 [post_modified_gmt] => 2022-04-20 18:42:27 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.quorum.us/?post_type=resources&p=6630 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => resources [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [queried_object_id] => 6630 [request] => SELECT wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts WHERE 1=1 AND wp_posts.post_name = 'legislative-outcomes-of-pandemic' AND wp_posts.post_type = 'resources' ORDER BY wp_posts.post_date DESC [posts] => Array ( [0] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 6630 [post_author] => 43 [post_date] => 2022-04-20 18:42:27 [post_date_gmt] => 2022-04-20 18:42:27 [post_content] => Much of American life has been shaped by COVID-19. Words like “social-distancing,” “zoom,” and “quarantine” entered the lexicon of American vocabulary. In the early COVID days we were baking our own bread, fervently hunting down toilet paper rolls, and sewing our own fabric masks. Similarly, pandemic-related legislation has greatly impacted and altered the role of federal, state, and local governments. Much of the early legislative action taken to combat the pandemic provided financial support to households, businesses, and state and local governments. Other notable legislative actions taken by federal and state governments included pandemic mandates — which set public health standards to enforce social distancing, mask policies, and vaccine mandates. [stat align="right" number="$2.3 trillion" text="amount added to government's 2020 budget deficit due to COVID-19"]At the start of the pandemic in March and April 2020, Congress enacted four federal bills containing COVID provisions that attempted to offset the effects of the COVID-related economic downturn. According to a 2021 report from the Congressional Budget Office, pandemic-related legislation added $2.3 trillion to the budget deficit during the government’s 2020 fiscal year and $.6 trillion during the 2021 fiscal year.

What Legislation Has Been Passed?

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), pandemic-related legislation will continue to affect the American economy in both the short term and long term. The COVID-19 legislation passed by Congress distributed stimulus checks to 169 million Americans, expanded the Child Tax Credit, established an eviction moratorium, and temporarily paused monthly federal student loan payments. Here is a complete list of COVID legislation passed by Congress so far, listed in reverse chronological order. The short-term and long-term effects of pandemic legislation have shown mixed results that ultimately affect everyday Americans’ income distribution, access to medical care, and housing security.

Short Term Effects of Legislation

The Congressional Budget Office’s 2021 Report on the effects of pandemic-related legislation states the pandemic made a short-term impact on the American economy in a variety of ways. Financial aid in the form of PPP loans, stimulus checks, and pausing federal loan payments provided a short-term boost to economic activity. [callout align="left" heading="The AHLA rallied members to share their stories with their members of Congress about how COVID-19 impacted their lives. " button_text="Read how they used Quorum to make their voices heard. " button_link="https://www.quorum.us/case-studies/ahla-grassroots-stories-covid/"]Additionally, pandemic mandates, like the social distancing guidelines implemented in early March 2020, helped ease the public health emergency. Guidelines and mandates helped lessen the severity of the pandemic but did have an effect on the amount of legislation and federal funding the government had to pay out to combat the economic impact of the pandemic. For example, when stay-at-home orders were mandated, spending by individuals and businesses lessened, which hit the hospitality industry particularly hard. As social distancing measures were reduced and lifted, both individuals and businesses began to spend more as they re-entered non-essential businesses like restaurants, gyms, and hotels. The tax credits and stimulus checks distributed to the American public by bills like the American Rescue Plan Act boosted the demand for goods and services. The federal loans, grants, and tax benefits distributed under the CARES Act helped businesses that experienced financial troubles. This federal assistance also helped local governments cover the costs of rising expenditures. Federal payments to healthcare providers helped cover the cost of testing and treating COVID-19. According to the CBO, economic output is still projected to remain below its potential as inflation continues to rise. Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, the inflation rate was two percent. During the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation soared to 8.5 percent in March 2022, the highest rate in more than three decades. Inflation is dominating the conversation both online and in both chambers by public officials, with Republicans honing in on inflation as their strategy and messaging ahead of the midterms. One report using Quorum data found that Republicans are saying “inflation” six times more frequently than the rate of Democrats from January 2022 through April 12, 2022.

Long Term Effects of Legislation

As the pandemic rages on, the long-term effects of pandemic-related legislation increases federal debt as a GDP percentage. Potential long-term economic impacts of the pandemic include a rise in borrowing costs, lower economic output, and a reduction in the income of U.S. households and businesses. These carry along with them the increased risk of a financial crisis and a risk of high inflation rates sticking around. Americans are already feeling the long-term impact of pandemic-related legislation on the economy. According to a March 2021 poll from Pew Research, 51 percent of Americans who are not retired stated that the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has made it harder for them in the long run to achieve their financial goals.

Unique Pandemic-Related Legislation

With the outbreak of COVID-19 and related lockdown measures, legislators had to get creative to help small businesses stay open during the pandemic. Local provisions allowed businesses to open “streateries” — seating that extended restaurants’ ability to serve patrons safely, outdoors.  States with strict alcohol rules relaxed them to allow alcohol and mixed drinks to be taken “to-go” or ordered for delivery. Streateries and to-go alcohol have become such widely supported measures beyond the pandemic. As the pandemic has continued and citizens become more accustomed to these new norms, cities like D.C. are looking to make streateries measure permanent beyond when the pandemic ends. 20 states voted to make to-go cocktails permanently allowed past the end of the pandemic.

What Vaccine Legislation Has Been Passed?

The COVID-19 economic relief packages received widespread support, like the American Rescue Plan, there are mixed opinions on vaccine legislation and vaccine mandates, in particular. The federal government left it mainly up to the state legislators to set vaccine mandates and legislation for their states. As a result, vaccine mandates vary state by state and can range from mandating public and private employees to have at least one COVID vaccine all the way to the other extreme where some states have banned any mandates on vaccinations. Other states lack policy on vaccine mandates altogether, leaving it up to individual citizens and private businesses on what rules they want to set. [stat align="right" number="18" text="number of states that implemented their own state-specific vaccine mandates"]18 states implemented their own vaccine mandates for state employees. In retaliation to the federal vaccine mandate from the White House, 13 states have banned forms of vaccine mandates (see sheet below). 19 states have implemented neither a vaccine mandate nor a ban on vaccine mandates, leaving it up to individual employers. States like Florida and Texas that banned vaccine mandates were motivated to do so in direct response to national vaccine mandate policies implemented by President Biden in 2021. In addition to the state bills listed in the above sheet banning vaccine mandates, three states banned all vaccine mandates via executive order from governors — Arizona, Georgia, and Texas.[callout align="right" heading="Learn how the pandemic expanded gubernatorial power" button_text="Go deeper" button_link="https://www.quorum.us/blog/state-governors-executive-power/"] As COVID vaccines became widely available, President Biden issued an executive order requiring all federal employees and federal contractors be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The Biden administration then expanded this policy in November 2021 with the COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), which mandates all employers with 100 or more employees require staff to be fully vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. Additionally, the Biden administration mandated The New Vaccination Requirements for Health Care Workers, which requires healthcare workers at facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid to be fully vaccinated. These federal mandates have been tested in federal court. As of April 7, 2022, federal appeals courts have upheld the vaccine mandate for all federal workers and contractors. The Supreme Court held two special hearings in January 2022 on the enforceability of two of President Biden’s vaccine mandates — one on the vaccine mandate for all employers with 100 or more employees and one on the vaccine mandate for all healthcare workers. President Biden’s expansion of vaccine mandates to all employers with 100 or more employees was struck down by the Supreme Court in January 2022 in a 5-4 decision. In another 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers in facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid.

Legislative Outcomes

The COVID-19 pandemic has left its mark on both American life and legislation. The economic impacts of pandemic-related legislation is constantly shifting as public health experts develop new ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and restrictions are adjusted based on the level of spread. There are many factors that influence the battle against the pandemic, such as social distancing and mask mandates, that will inevitably impact pandemic-related legislation and the economic impact of the pandemic. If COVID-19 positive cases decrease and social distancing decreases, the American economy will experience more growth than current estimates predict. [post_title] => Legislative Outcomes of the Pandemic So Far [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => legislative-outcomes-of-pandemic [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2022-04-20 18:42:27 [post_modified_gmt] => 2022-04-20 18:42:27 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.quorum.us/?post_type=resources&p=6630 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => resources [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) ) [post_count] => 1 [current_post] => -1 [before_loop] => 1 [in_the_loop] => [post] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 6630 [post_author] => 43 [post_date] => 2022-04-20 18:42:27 [post_date_gmt] => 2022-04-20 18:42:27 [post_content] => Much of American life has been shaped by COVID-19. Words like “social-distancing,” “zoom,” and “quarantine” entered the lexicon of American vocabulary. In the early COVID days we were baking our own bread, fervently hunting down toilet paper rolls, and sewing our own fabric masks. Similarly, pandemic-related legislation has greatly impacted and altered the role of federal, state, and local governments. Much of the early legislative action taken to combat the pandemic provided financial support to households, businesses, and state and local governments. Other notable legislative actions taken by federal and state governments included pandemic mandates — which set public health standards to enforce social distancing, mask policies, and vaccine mandates. [stat align="right" number="$2.3 trillion" text="amount added to government's 2020 budget deficit due to COVID-19"]At the start of the pandemic in March and April 2020, Congress enacted four federal bills containing COVID provisions that attempted to offset the effects of the COVID-related economic downturn. According to a 2021 report from the Congressional Budget Office, pandemic-related legislation added $2.3 trillion to the budget deficit during the government’s 2020 fiscal year and $.6 trillion during the 2021 fiscal year.

What Legislation Has Been Passed?

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), pandemic-related legislation will continue to affect the American economy in both the short term and long term. The COVID-19 legislation passed by Congress distributed stimulus checks to 169 million Americans, expanded the Child Tax Credit, established an eviction moratorium, and temporarily paused monthly federal student loan payments. Here is a complete list of COVID legislation passed by Congress so far, listed in reverse chronological order. The short-term and long-term effects of pandemic legislation have shown mixed results that ultimately affect everyday Americans’ income distribution, access to medical care, and housing security.

Short Term Effects of Legislation

The Congressional Budget Office’s 2021 Report on the effects of pandemic-related legislation states the pandemic made a short-term impact on the American economy in a variety of ways. Financial aid in the form of PPP loans, stimulus checks, and pausing federal loan payments provided a short-term boost to economic activity. [callout align="left" heading="The AHLA rallied members to share their stories with their members of Congress about how COVID-19 impacted their lives. " button_text="Read how they used Quorum to make their voices heard. " button_link="https://www.quorum.us/case-studies/ahla-grassroots-stories-covid/"]Additionally, pandemic mandates, like the social distancing guidelines implemented in early March 2020, helped ease the public health emergency. Guidelines and mandates helped lessen the severity of the pandemic but did have an effect on the amount of legislation and federal funding the government had to pay out to combat the economic impact of the pandemic. For example, when stay-at-home orders were mandated, spending by individuals and businesses lessened, which hit the hospitality industry particularly hard. As social distancing measures were reduced and lifted, both individuals and businesses began to spend more as they re-entered non-essential businesses like restaurants, gyms, and hotels. The tax credits and stimulus checks distributed to the American public by bills like the American Rescue Plan Act boosted the demand for goods and services. The federal loans, grants, and tax benefits distributed under the CARES Act helped businesses that experienced financial troubles. This federal assistance also helped local governments cover the costs of rising expenditures. Federal payments to healthcare providers helped cover the cost of testing and treating COVID-19. According to the CBO, economic output is still projected to remain below its potential as inflation continues to rise. Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, the inflation rate was two percent. During the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation soared to 8.5 percent in March 2022, the highest rate in more than three decades. Inflation is dominating the conversation both online and in both chambers by public officials, with Republicans honing in on inflation as their strategy and messaging ahead of the midterms. One report using Quorum data found that Republicans are saying “inflation” six times more frequently than the rate of Democrats from January 2022 through April 12, 2022.

Long Term Effects of Legislation

As the pandemic rages on, the long-term effects of pandemic-related legislation increases federal debt as a GDP percentage. Potential long-term economic impacts of the pandemic include a rise in borrowing costs, lower economic output, and a reduction in the income of U.S. households and businesses. These carry along with them the increased risk of a financial crisis and a risk of high inflation rates sticking around. Americans are already feeling the long-term impact of pandemic-related legislation on the economy. According to a March 2021 poll from Pew Research, 51 percent of Americans who are not retired stated that the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has made it harder for them in the long run to achieve their financial goals.

Unique Pandemic-Related Legislation

With the outbreak of COVID-19 and related lockdown measures, legislators had to get creative to help small businesses stay open during the pandemic. Local provisions allowed businesses to open “streateries” — seating that extended restaurants’ ability to serve patrons safely, outdoors.  States with strict alcohol rules relaxed them to allow alcohol and mixed drinks to be taken “to-go” or ordered for delivery. Streateries and to-go alcohol have become such widely supported measures beyond the pandemic. As the pandemic has continued and citizens become more accustomed to these new norms, cities like D.C. are looking to make streateries measure permanent beyond when the pandemic ends. 20 states voted to make to-go cocktails permanently allowed past the end of the pandemic.

What Vaccine Legislation Has Been Passed?

The COVID-19 economic relief packages received widespread support, like the American Rescue Plan, there are mixed opinions on vaccine legislation and vaccine mandates, in particular. The federal government left it mainly up to the state legislators to set vaccine mandates and legislation for their states. As a result, vaccine mandates vary state by state and can range from mandating public and private employees to have at least one COVID vaccine all the way to the other extreme where some states have banned any mandates on vaccinations. Other states lack policy on vaccine mandates altogether, leaving it up to individual citizens and private businesses on what rules they want to set. [stat align="right" number="18" text="number of states that implemented their own state-specific vaccine mandates"]18 states implemented their own vaccine mandates for state employees. In retaliation to the federal vaccine mandate from the White House, 13 states have banned forms of vaccine mandates (see sheet below). 19 states have implemented neither a vaccine mandate nor a ban on vaccine mandates, leaving it up to individual employers. States like Florida and Texas that banned vaccine mandates were motivated to do so in direct response to national vaccine mandate policies implemented by President Biden in 2021. In addition to the state bills listed in the above sheet banning vaccine mandates, three states banned all vaccine mandates via executive order from governors — Arizona, Georgia, and Texas.[callout align="right" heading="Learn how the pandemic expanded gubernatorial power" button_text="Go deeper" button_link="https://www.quorum.us/blog/state-governors-executive-power/"] As COVID vaccines became widely available, President Biden issued an executive order requiring all federal employees and federal contractors be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The Biden administration then expanded this policy in November 2021 with the COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), which mandates all employers with 100 or more employees require staff to be fully vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. Additionally, the Biden administration mandated The New Vaccination Requirements for Health Care Workers, which requires healthcare workers at facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid to be fully vaccinated. These federal mandates have been tested in federal court. As of April 7, 2022, federal appeals courts have upheld the vaccine mandate for all federal workers and contractors. The Supreme Court held two special hearings in January 2022 on the enforceability of two of President Biden’s vaccine mandates — one on the vaccine mandate for all employers with 100 or more employees and one on the vaccine mandate for all healthcare workers. President Biden’s expansion of vaccine mandates to all employers with 100 or more employees was struck down by the Supreme Court in January 2022 in a 5-4 decision. In another 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers in facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid.

Legislative Outcomes

The COVID-19 pandemic has left its mark on both American life and legislation. The economic impacts of pandemic-related legislation is constantly shifting as public health experts develop new ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and restrictions are adjusted based on the level of spread. There are many factors that influence the battle against the pandemic, such as social distancing and mask mandates, that will inevitably impact pandemic-related legislation and the economic impact of the pandemic. If COVID-19 positive cases decrease and social distancing decreases, the American economy will experience more growth than current estimates predict. [post_title] => Legislative Outcomes of the Pandemic So Far [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => legislative-outcomes-of-pandemic [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2022-04-20 18:42:27 [post_modified_gmt] => 2022-04-20 18:42:27 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.quorum.us/?post_type=resources&p=6630 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => resources [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [comment_count] => 0 [current_comment] => -1 [found_posts] => 1 [max_num_pages] => 0 [max_num_comment_pages] => 0 [is_single] => 1 [is_preview] => [is_page] => [is_archive] => [is_date] => [is_year] => [is_month] => [is_day] => [is_time] => [is_author] => [is_category] => [is_tag] => [is_tax] => [is_search] => [is_feed] => [is_comment_feed] => [is_trackback] => [is_home] => [is_privacy_policy] => [is_404] => [is_embed] => [is_paged] => [is_admin] => [is_attachment] => [is_singular] => 1 [is_robots] => [is_favicon] => [is_posts_page] => [is_post_type_archive] => [query_vars_hash:WP_Query:private] => 4fd0030e2adb64a3ac078fa7ec74c4ca [query_vars_changed:WP_Query:private] => [thumbnails_cached] => [allow_query_attachment_by_filename:protected] => [stopwords:WP_Query:private] => [compat_fields:WP_Query:private] => Array ( [0] => query_vars_hash [1] => query_vars_changed ) [compat_methods:WP_Query:private] => Array ( [0] => init_query_flags [1] => parse_tax_query ) )
!!! 6630
Data Driven Insights

Legislative Outcomes of the Pandemic So Far

Claire Miller
Apr 20, 2022
Legislative Outcomes of the Pandemic So Far

Much of American life has been shaped by COVID-19. Words like “social-distancing,” “zoom,” and “quarantine” entered the lexicon of American vocabulary. In the early COVID days we were baking our own bread, fervently hunting down toilet paper rolls, and sewing our own fabric masks.

Similarly, pandemic-related legislation has greatly impacted and altered the role of federal, state, and local governments. Much of the early legislative action taken to combat the pandemic provided financial support to households, businesses, and state and local governments. Other notable legislative actions taken by federal and state governments included pandemic mandates — which set public health standards to enforce social distancing, mask policies, and vaccine mandates.

$2.3 trillion
amount added to government's 2020 budget deficit due to COVID-19
At the start of the pandemic in March and April 2020, Congress enacted four federal bills containing COVID provisions that attempted to offset the effects of the COVID-related economic downturn. According to a 2021 report from the Congressional Budget Office, pandemic-related legislation added $2.3 trillion to the budget deficit during the government’s 2020 fiscal year and $.6 trillion during the 2021 fiscal year.

What Legislation Has Been Passed?

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), pandemic-related legislation will continue to affect the American economy in both the short term and long term. The COVID-19 legislation passed by Congress distributed stimulus checks to 169 million Americans, expanded the Child Tax Credit, established an eviction moratorium, and temporarily paused monthly federal student loan payments. Here is a complete list of COVID legislation passed by Congress so far, listed in reverse chronological order.

The short-term and long-term effects of pandemic legislation have shown mixed results that ultimately affect everyday Americans’ income distribution, access to medical care, and housing security.

Short Term Effects of Legislation

The Congressional Budget Office’s 2021 Report on the effects of pandemic-related legislation states the pandemic made a short-term impact on the American economy in a variety of ways. Financial aid in the form of PPP loans, stimulus checks, and pausing federal loan payments provided a short-term boost to economic activity.

Additionally, pandemic mandates, like the social distancing guidelines implemented in early March 2020, helped ease the public health emergency. Guidelines and mandates helped lessen the severity of the pandemic but did have an effect on the amount of legislation and federal funding the government had to pay out to combat the economic impact of the pandemic. For example, when stay-at-home orders were mandated, spending by individuals and businesses lessened, which hit the hospitality industry particularly hard. As social distancing measures were reduced and lifted, both individuals and businesses began to spend more as they re-entered non-essential businesses like restaurants, gyms, and hotels.

The tax credits and stimulus checks distributed to the American public by bills like the American Rescue Plan Act boosted the demand for goods and services. The federal loans, grants, and tax benefits distributed under the CARES Act helped businesses that experienced financial troubles. This federal assistance also helped local governments cover the costs of rising expenditures. Federal payments to healthcare providers helped cover the cost of testing and treating COVID-19.

According to the CBO, economic output is still projected to remain below its potential as inflation continues to rise. Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, the inflation rate was two percent. During the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation soared to 8.5 percent in March 2022, the highest rate in more than three decades. Inflation is dominating the conversation both online and in both chambers by public officials, with Republicans honing in on inflation as their strategy and messaging ahead of the midterms. One report using Quorum data found that Republicans are saying “inflation” six times more frequently than the rate of Democrats from January 2022 through April 12, 2022.

Long Term Effects of Legislation

As the pandemic rages on, the long-term effects of pandemic-related legislation increases federal debt as a GDP percentage. Potential long-term economic impacts of the pandemic include a rise in borrowing costs, lower economic output, and a reduction in the income of U.S. households and businesses. These carry along with them the increased risk of a financial crisis and a risk of high inflation rates sticking around.

Americans are already feeling the long-term impact of pandemic-related legislation on the economy. According to a March 2021 poll from Pew Research, 51 percent of Americans who are not retired stated that the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has made it harder for them in the long run to achieve their financial goals.

Unique Pandemic-Related Legislation

With the outbreak of COVID-19 and related lockdown measures, legislators had to get creative to help small businesses stay open during the pandemic. Local provisions allowed businesses to open “streateries” — seating that extended restaurants’ ability to serve patrons safely, outdoors.  States with strict alcohol rules relaxed them to allow alcohol and mixed drinks to be taken “to-go” or ordered for delivery.

Streateries and to-go alcohol have become such widely supported measures beyond the pandemic. As the pandemic has continued and citizens become more accustomed to these new norms, cities like D.C. are looking to make streateries measure permanent beyond when the pandemic ends. 20 states voted to make to-go cocktails permanently allowed past the end of the pandemic.

What Vaccine Legislation Has Been Passed?

The COVID-19 economic relief packages received widespread support, like the American Rescue Plan, there are mixed opinions on vaccine legislation and vaccine mandates, in particular. The federal government left it mainly up to the state legislators to set vaccine mandates and legislation for their states. As a result, vaccine mandates vary state by state and can range from mandating public and private employees to have at least one COVID vaccine all the way to the other extreme where some states have banned any mandates on vaccinations. Other states lack policy on vaccine mandates altogether, leaving it up to individual citizens and private businesses on what rules they want to set.

18
number of states that implemented their own state-specific vaccine mandates
18 states implemented their own vaccine mandates for state employees. In retaliation to the federal vaccine mandate from the White House, 13 states have banned forms of vaccine mandates (see sheet below). 19 states have implemented neither a vaccine mandate nor a ban on vaccine mandates, leaving it up to individual employers.

States like Florida and Texas that banned vaccine mandates were motivated to do so in direct response to national vaccine mandate policies implemented by President Biden in 2021. In addition to the state bills listed in the above sheet banning vaccine mandates, three states banned all vaccine mandates via executive order from governors — Arizona, Georgia, and Texas.

As COVID vaccines became widely available, President Biden issued an executive order requiring all federal employees and federal contractors be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The Biden administration then expanded this policy in November 2021 with the COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), which mandates all employers with 100 or more employees require staff to be fully vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. Additionally, the Biden administration mandated The New Vaccination Requirements for Health Care Workers, which requires healthcare workers at facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid to be fully vaccinated. These federal mandates have been tested in federal court.

As of April 7, 2022, federal appeals courts have upheld the vaccine mandate for all federal workers and contractors. The Supreme Court held two special hearings in January 2022 on the enforceability of two of President Biden’s vaccine mandates — one on the vaccine mandate for all employers with 100 or more employees and one on the vaccine mandate for all healthcare workers. President Biden’s expansion of vaccine mandates to all employers with 100 or more employees was struck down by the Supreme Court in January 2022 in a 5-4 decision. In another 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers in facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid.

Legislative Outcomes

The COVID-19 pandemic has left its mark on both American life and legislation. The economic impacts of pandemic-related legislation is constantly shifting as public health experts develop new ways to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and restrictions are adjusted based on the level of spread.

There are many factors that influence the battle against the pandemic, such as social distancing and mask mandates, that will inevitably impact pandemic-related legislation and the economic impact of the pandemic. If COVID-19 positive cases decrease and social distancing decreases, the American economy will experience more growth than current estimates predict.

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