# Plain Language Summary: Transparency in COVID-19 Expenditures Act

This bill requires the federal government to publicly disclose detailed information about how it spent money during the COVID-19 pandemic. Essentially, it's about making sure taxpayers can see where their money went during the emergency response to the coronavirus. The bill would mandate that agencies report on their COVID-related spending in a clear, accessible format that regular people can actually understand and track.

The practical effect is that you'd be able to look up how federal agencies used pandemic relief funds—whether it went to hospitals, small business loans, unemployment benefits, vaccine distribution, or other COVID-related programs. Instead of having this information scattered across different government websites in confusing formats, it would be compiled in one place where citizens, journalists, and watchdog groups could examine it. This makes it harder for money to be wasted or misused without anyone noticing, since the spending would be out in the open for public scrutiny.

This affects taxpayers most directly, since it's their money being spent. It also matters to people who received pandemic assistance and want to understand how the program worked, as well as anyone interested in government accountability. The bill doesn't change how much money gets spent or who receives it—it just shines a light on the spending that already happened so the public can see the full picture of where pandemic relief dollars actually went.

Transparency in COVID–19 Expenditures Act

Lee, Mike

Transparency in COVID-19 Expenditures Act This bill requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to audit certain funding that was provided to address COVID-19. Specifically, the GAO must audit and report on the use of funding provided by <ul> <li>the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020;</li> <li>the Families First Coronavirus Response Act;</li> <li> the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act); </li> <li>the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act; </li> <li>Divisions M and N of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021; and </li> <li>the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.</li> </ul>