White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs Email originally dated Mayo 14, 2020

5/14/20

“We have the best doctors, the best military leaders, and the best logistics professionals anywhere in the world. And we’re orchestrating a massive Federal response unlike anything our country has ever seen.”

– President Donald J. Trump

Overview: Response and recovery efforts are locally executed, state managed, and federally supported. Successful emergency management requires nationwide cooperation and unity of effort, combining the strength and ingenuity of our citizens and private sector with a sweeping, all-inclusive, and whole-of-government response. The below is a partial overview of Federal assistance provided to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the people of Pennsylvania to combat the Coronavirus. The information is bolstered by hundreds of additional actions by the Federal government to help the people of Pennsylvania. Implementation of the CARES Act and other supplemental funding measures is ongoing and will also bring additional support to Pennsylvania. President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have appreciated the strong State-Federal partnership with Governor Tom Wolf and other Pennsylvania leaders.

Executive Summary of Federal Support to the Commonwealth and People of Pennsylvania:

  • The President quickly approved Pennsylvania’s major disaster and National Guard funding requests providing additional Federal resources to supplement State response efforts.
  • This year, over 2.6 million N-95 masks, 18 million surgical & procedural masks, 600,000 eye and face shields, 9.4 million isolation & surgical founds, and 470 million medical gloves have been shipped to Pennsylvania through private sector and federal collaboration.
  • To supplement private sector supplies, all of Pennsylvania’s 683 Medicaid & Medicare certified nursing homes are receiving a 14 day supply of personal protective equipment (PPE).
  • The Department of Defense deployed a Battelle Critical Care Decontamination System that can decontaminate up to 80,000 N-95 masks daily.
  • Pennsylvania is receiving $301 million in testing assistance funding and other resources to help scale and meet testing goals.
  • Pennsylvania medical providers have received $2.3 billion of Provider Relief Funds to date to support healthcare-related expenses or lost revenue attributable to COVID-19 and ensures uninsured Americans can get testing and treatment for COVID-19.
  • The Commonwealth and eligible local governments received over $4.9 billion from the CARES Act’s Coronavirus Relief Fund to help address unforeseen financial needs and risks created by the COVID-19 public health emergency.
  • The SBA has issued over $21.4 billion in loans to over 150,000 Pennsylvania small businesses as of Mayo 8.
  • The U.S. Department of Treasury has made 5.2 million Economic Impact Payments totaling more than $8.8 billion to hardworking Pennsylvanians.
  • The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has made over $288.8 million in COVID-19 funding available to Pennsylvania grantees via CARES Act authorizations to help America’s low-income families and most vulnerable citizens.
  • The U.S. Department of Education provided $487.1 million to support postsecondary education students and institutions of higher education in Pennsylvania, authorized $104.4 million for the Commonwealth from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, and $523.8 million to ensure learning continues for all students.
  • The U.S. Department of Transportation allocated more than $1.1 billion to help the Pennsylvania public transportation systems and $232.1 million to help Pennsylvania airports.

Supportive Actions by President Donald J. Trump:

  • President Trump Declares a National Emergency: On Marzo 13, President Trump declared a national emergency concerning COVID-19. The emergency declaration authorized direct Federal assistance, temporary facilities, commodities, equipment, and emergency operation costs for all States, including Pennsylvania, pursuant to section 501(b) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.
  • Pennsylvania’s Major Disaster Declaration: On Marzo 28, Governor Wolf submitted a major disaster declaration request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). On Marzo 30, President Trump approved the request declaring a major disaster in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and ordered Federal assistance to supplement State, local, and tribal recovery efforts in the areas affected by COVID-19. For the first time in our Nation’s history, every State and territory has a presidential disaster declaration at the same time.
  • Historic Economic Relief: On Abril 24, President Trump signed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act into law. The law provides further unprecedented economic relief to American citizens, small businesses, workers, healthcare providers, and State, local, and tribal governments and builds on the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Families First Coronavirus Response Act, and the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriation. More here. Additional Pennsylvania allocation information is found below.
  • National Guard Support: On Abril 7, President Trump directed FEMA to fund 100% of the emergency assistance activities provided by Pennsylvania National Guard personnel in Title 32 duty status, per Governor Wolf’s request.

Testing, Resource & Logistics Support: FEMA is working with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), other Federal agencies, and private sector partners, to produce, allocate, and distribute key resources to Pennsylvania. Most notably, these include personal protective equipment (PPE), testing supplies, ventilators, and the expedition of critical supplies from overseas to various U.S. locations. 

  • HHS, the Centers for Disaster Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are providing unprecedented regulatory flexibilities, resources, and guidance to expand the availability of testing and to assist Pennsylvania and States across the country in scaling testing. Learn more from the CDC here and FDA here. In addition, the CARES Act and other supplemental disbursements, alongside FEMA resources, are important avenues for States to scale testing.
  • The Trump Administration, through the White House, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), continues to provide the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with technical assistance and resources to enhance coronavirus testing in the Commonwealth. To date, the Administration has held several testing technical assistance calls with Commonwealth officials and continues to partner through additional briefings and direct engagements.
  • The Federal government is supporting mobile testing efforts in Pennsylvania to increase testing capacity and availability in the Commonwealth.
  • On Mayo 11, President Trump announced that the Administration is sending nearly $11 B to help States, territories, and tribes meet testing goals; the Administration is also sending approximately 12 M testing swabs to States to supplement private-sector resources. This effort has resulted in $301 M in testing assistance to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
  • In support of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, FEMA and HHS are coordinating a whole-of-America approach to source PPE, ventilators, testing supplies, and other critical resources for States, Tribes, and Territories. The effort is led by Rear Admiral John Polowczyk of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. For more on the Supply Chain Stabilization Task Force, read more here.
  • The Trump Administration is coordinating Project Air Bridge, a coordinated public-private partnership designed to expedite the movement of critical supplies from other countries to the United States. The below table shows recently delivered supplies to Pennsylvania through various sources, including Project Air Bridge, to bolster private sector supply chains.
PPE 5/2 – 5/8 Total (YTD)
N-95 Masks 322,700 2,581,800
Surgical & Procedural Masks 1,318,600 17,934,500
Eye & Face Shields 27,300 461,500
Isolation & Surgical Gowns 849,300 9,363,700
Surgical & Exam Gloves 43,546,800 472,239,200
  • In addition to the Project Air Bridge and efforts outlined above, as of Mayo 13, FEMA has delivered 365,292 N-95 masks, 869,210 surgical masks, 141,761 medical gowns, 60,040 coveralls/Tyvek suits, 173,271 face shields, and 690,346 gloves from the Strategic National Stockpile to Pennsylvania.On Mayo 2, FEMA announced that, under the direction of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, it will coordinate two shipments totaling a 14-day supply of PPE to more than 15,000 nursing homes across the Nation, including the 683 Medicaid & Medicare certified nursing homes in Pennsylvania, to care for our seniors. The mission will supplement existing efforts to ensure nursing homes across the country have PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic. FEMA will ship PPE to Medicaid- and Medicare-certified nursing homes based on input from the American Health Care Association to serve as a bridge between other PPE shipments.
  • As of Mayo 13, FEMA obligated $63 M for COVID-19 response efforts in Pennsylvania and will continue to obligate additional dollars per validated State requests.
  • The Defense Logistics Agency awarded a contract to Battelle Critical Care Decontamination Systems for 60 N95 decontamination system units for the sanitation and reuse of N95 respirators. A system is currently deployed in Pennsylvania and has the capacity to decontaminate up to 80,000 N95 respirators per day.

Federal Agency Support: The Trump Administration continues to provide unprecedented resources, guidance, and regulatory flexibilities for State, local and tribal governments to develop and deploy innovative solutions for addressing COVID-19.

  • U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)
    • As of Abril 23, through the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act and the CARES Act, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided over $43.7 M to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. More here. 
    • As of Abril 8, HHS has awarded over $37.2 M in CARES Act funding to 43 health centers across Pennsylvania to assist in combatting COVID-19. More here.
    • Medical providers in Pennsylvania were allocated more than $2.3 B for the first round of funding from the Provider Relief Fund, with most of that provided Viernes, Abril 10. The funding supports healthcare-related expenses or lost revenue attributable to COVID-19 and ensures uninsured Americans can get testing and treatment for COVID-19.
    • As of Mayo 13, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has received over $2.6 B from HHS through the Provider Relief Fund, CDC State and local funding, HRSA health centers, and other HHS grants.
    • On Abril 22, Pennsylvania State University was awarded more than $2.2 M to support small rural hospitals and promote telehealth in rural communities. More here.
    • On Marzo 24, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania submitted an 1135 Medicaid Waiver request to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS). On Marzo 27, CMS approved Pennsylvania’s waiver request offering new flexibilities to focus resources on combatting the outbreak and providing the best possible care to Medicaid beneficiaries in Pennsylvania.
    • HHS, CMS, and FDA have issued guidance on several topics to help inform decisions made by State and local health officials and private sector partners, including operational guidance for Pennsylvania nursing homes, telemedicine, elective surgery, and insurers. Learn more from CMS here, CDC here, and FDA here.
  • U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
    • As a result of the CARES Act, the SBA created four additional loan/funding programs to assist businesses impacted by COVID-19. As of Mayo 8, the SBA issued over $21.4 B in loans to over 150,000 Pennsylvania small businesses. Nationally, SBA executed more loans in 14 days of the CARES Act implementation than the agency had done in the previous 14 years. More here.
    • On Marzo 19, SBA declared an economic disaster in Pennsylvania at the request of Governor Wolf. The disaster declaration creates access to low interest loans for small businesses across Pennsylvania. As of Mayo 8, the SBA has approved 99,790 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) advances of up to $10,000 for Pennsylvania small businesses impacted by COVID-19; these funds, as authorized by the CARES Act, do not need to be repaid and have totaled more than $332.3 M in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
  • U.S. Department of Treasury (DT)
    • As of Mayo 8, the Internal Revenue Service has issued over 5.2 M Economic Impact Payments (EIP) totaling more than $8.8 B to eligible individuals in Pennsylvania. Nationally, the IRS has issued 130 million payments totaling more than $200 B to hardworking taxpayers across the Nation. Authorized under the CARES Act, EIPs are being automatically issued to eligible 2019 or 2018 Federal tax return filers who received a refund using direct deposit. Social Security recipients who do not file tax returns will automatically receive economic impact payments. Additional information on the EIP program, including frequently asked questions, can be found here.
    • Treasury has completed all disbursements from the CARES Act’s Coronavirus Relief Fund to States and units of local government eligible for direct allocation. Over $4.9 B has been distributed to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania combined with eligible units of local government in the Commonwealth to help address unforeseen financial needs and risks created by the COVID-19 public health emergency. More information on the Coronavirus Relief Fund, including updated guidance and frequently asked questions, here.
    • On Mayo 5, Treasury and the U.S. Department of the Interior announced initial allocations of the CARES Act’s Coronavirus Relief Fund dollars to Native American Tribes for coronavirus preparedness, response, and recovery. Totaling nearly $5 B (of $8 B), the allocation represents one of the largest programmatic investments in Indian County in our Nation’s history.
    • On Abril 9, the Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve launched a Main Street Business Lending program and a Municipal Liquidity Facility (MLF) to support the flow of credit to American workers, businesses, States, counties, and cities across the Nation, including in Pennsylvania, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The MLF will provide up to $500 B in direct financing to States and eligible units of local government (counties with > 500,000 population and cities with > 250,000 population) to help ensure they have the funds necessary to provide essential services to citizens and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. More information, including the term sheet and guidance, can be found here.
  • U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
    • As of Mayo 11, HUD has made over $288.8 M in COVID-19 funding available to Pennsylvania grantees via CARES Act authorizations to help America’s low-income families and most vulnerable citizens. More here.
    • On Abril 1, HUD implemented the CARES Act requirement to provide up to one year of payment forbearance for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) single-family borrowers in Pennsylvania and across the Nation who are experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19. More here.
    • On Abril 10, HUD implemented the CARES Act requirement to provide FHA multifamily borrowers in Pennsylvania and across the Nation with forbearance for up to three months if they agree not to evict tenants during that period. More here.
    • To ensure homeowners and renters have the most up to date and accurate housing assistance information during the COVID-19 national emergency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), and HUD launched the new mortgage and housing assistance website.
  • U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)
    • As a result of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, DOL expanded paid sick, family, and medical leave; the Department has offered flexibilities and emergency administrative capacity expansion grants for unemployment insurance that will help the people of Pennsylvania.
    • DOL has awarded over $37.8 M in emergency administrative unemployment insurance grants to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
  • U.S. Department of Education (DoED)
    • On Marzo 20, DoED suspended Federal student loan payments and waived interest during the Federal emergency, which could help up to 1.6 M direct loan borrowers in Pennsylvania.
    • DoED has also provided unprecedented reporting flexibilities to Pennsylvania to allow the State to best meet the needs of students and teachers during the emergency. More here, here and here.
    • In Abril, DoED announced allocations under the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund of the CARES Act totaling over $487.1 M to support postsecondary education students and institutions of higher education in Pennsylvania. More here and here.
    • On Abril 14, DoED announced an allocation in the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, authorized by the CARES Act, of over $104.4 M for Pennsylvania. This is an extraordinarily flexible “emergency block grant” designed to enable governors to decide how best to meet the needs of students, schools (including charter schools and non-public schools), postsecondary institutions, and other education-related organizations. More here.
    • On Abril 23, DoED made $523.8 M available to Pennsylvania through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund of the CARES Act to ensure learning continues for all students. More here.
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
    • USDA has provided numerous flexibilities and resources to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to ensure children and low income Americans have access to food during the national emergency. More here.
    • On Mayo 7, USDA approved Pennsylvania to operate the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (PEBT), a new program authorized by the Families First Coronavirus Act (FFCRA), which provides assistance to families of children eligible for free or reduced-price meals dealing with school closures.
    • On Abril 17, USDA announced the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) to assist farmers, ranchers, and consumers in Pennsylvania and across the Nation in response to COVID-19. This $19 B relief program will provide $16 B in direct support based on actual losses for agricultural producers and $3 B in purchases of fresh produce, dairy, and meat, including producers in Pennsylvania.
    • USDA published a COVID-19 Federal Rural Resource Guide for rural residents, businesses, and communities in Pennsylvania and across the country to find information about Federal funding and partnership opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    • On Abril 28, President Trump signed an Executive Order, under the authority of the Defense Production Act, to keep meat and poultry processing facilities open during the COVID-19 emergency. The CDC and OSHA provided guidance to facilities to ensure employee safety, prompt reopening, and continued operation of facilities. USDA will work with meat processing facilities to ensure accordance with CDC and OSHA guidance, and with State and local officials to ensure plants are allowed to operate and continue to harden the security of the American food supply chain. More here.
  • U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
    • DOT allocated more than $1.1 B in Federal Transit Administration funds to help the Pennsylvania public transportation systems respond to the challenges of COVID-19. More here.
    • DOT awarded more than $232.1 M from the Federal Aviation Administration to help fund continuing operations and lost revenue for airports in Pennsylvania. More here.
  • U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC)
    • On Mayo 7, the Department of Commerce announced the Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) will allocate $1.5 B in CARES Act funds to aid communities across the country, including in Pennsylvania, in preventing, preparing for, and responding to the coronavirus pandemic. EDA will make CARES Act Recovery Assistance grants under the authority of the Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) program, which is intended to be flexible and responsible to the economic development needs and priorities of local and regional stakeholders. More information, including how communities in Pennsylvania can apply, can be found here.
  • U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
    • With the $19.6 B allocated under the CARES Act, the VA is hiring new staff and procuring additional resources to deal with the evolving needs of the pandemic. This includes expanding free or subsidized telehealth services and waiving a requirement that VA State homes maintain a 90 percent occupancy rate in order to receive Federal benefits for times when the Veteran is not in the home. More here.
    • The VA traditionally provides Veterans’ healthcare, benefits and memorial affairs. In times of national crisis, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, VA provides services to the Nation based on requests from States, while being clear that Veterans are our first priority. This is known as VA’s Fourth Mission. The VA continues to evaluate opportunities to help States and local communities across the country.
    • The U.S. Department of the Treasury and VA announced that VA benefit recipients in Pennsylvania and across the Nation will automatically receive $1,200 in Economic Impact Payments provided for under the CARES Act.
    • On Abril 3, the VA announced a number of actions to provide Veterans in Pennsylvania and across the Nation with financial, benefits and claims help as part of the VA’s COVID-19 response. The financial relief actions include – until further notice – (i) suspending all actions on Veteran debts under the jurisdiction of the Treasury Department and (ii) suspending collection action or extending repayment terms on preexisting VA debts, as the Veteran prefers. More here.
  • U.S. Department of State (DOS)
    • The State Department launched an unprecedented global effort to bring home citizens from every corner of the globe and has repatriated thousands of Americans from multiple countries. As of Abril 17, DOS has coordinated the repatriation of nearly 70,000 Americans, including individuals from Pennsylvania. More here.
  • U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)