States and the District of Columbia will not receive any additional state and local aid in a new $900 billion COVID-19 relief deal that Congress announced late Sunday night. But officials say other provisions in the legislation will provide temporary economic relief for renters and unemployed residents as vaccine distribution ramps up on the precipice of the pandemic’s tenth month.

The House passed the bill Monday night, and the Senate is expected to vote soon.

The package that emerged from Congress after months of contentious partisan debate includes $25 billion in rental assistance, with more than $1 billion expected to reach D.C., Maryland and Virginia, according to estimates by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, or NLIHC. Final votes on the relief bill are expected today.

The legislation also includes a one-month extension of a national eviction moratorium, $300 in added unemployment benefits through mid-March, an extension of unemployment benefits for gig workers and contractors, stimulus checks worth up to $600 for millions of Americans, more than $284 billion in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for businesses, and billions to support coronavirus vaccination and testing.

All of these provisions are expected to provide some relief to D.C.-area residents and employers walloped by the health emergency and the ensuing economic crisis.

Officials are also welcoming the news that the bill grants them an additional year to spend federal money they received as part of the CARES Act that passed in March. State and local governments that received a total of $150 billion from the Coronavirus Relief Fund had been required to spend the money by Dec. 30 or return it to the U.S. Treasury.

That posed a challenge for many jurisdictions, including Montgomery County, which struggled to get the money out the door amid evolving federal guidelines and administrative setbacks. Now the money — millions of which has gone toward rental assistance programs in D.C., Maryland and Virginia — can be spent through the end of 2021.

In Virginia, the deadline extension will help localities that received roughly half of the state’s stimulus funds in the spring, says the state’s secretary of finance, Aubrey Layne.

“It gives them more time. And of course, they are on the front lines of dealing with this. So it really does help localities, maybe some school districts,” Layne tells WAMU/DCist.

Additional funding for state and local governments had been a priority for Congressional Democrats, but they backed down after Republicans did not budge from their position that more assistance would prop up poorly managed state and local budgets. In return, Republicans agreed to stop pushing for business liability protection against COVID-19-related lawsuits in the bill.

After advocates for renters and low-income Americans repeatedly sounded the alarm about a pending eviction crisis, congressional lawmakers included $25 billion in rental assistance and a one-month extension of a national eviction moratorium in the bill. The District could receive $82.5 million in aid, with roughly $406 million for Maryland and $572 million for Virginia, according to NLIHC.

But neither measure may fully meet the need among vulnerable renters in the D.C. region and nationally. Housing advocates have said the nation needs $100 billion in rental assistance to prevent a wave of evictions.

When the national eviction ban expires Jan. 31, the decision to protect renters from eviction — or not — will fall to courts and lawmakers on the state level. The District has a citywide eviction ban set to expire March 31. Virginia’s eviction ban runs out Dec. 31. Maryland doesn’t currently have a ban, though residents can seek some eviction protection under an executive order that lasts through the state of emergency.

All three jurisdictions have provided millions for rental assistance, but some programs are either oversubscribed or have failed to get money into the hands of renters and housing providers in a timely manner.

A recent study pending peer review showed a link between expiring eviction bans and rising coronavirus infection rates. Landlords and property managers have challenged the national ban on constitutional grounds.

Diane Yentel, NLIHC’s executive director, said in a statement Sunday that she hopes Congress pursues additional aid for struggling Americans. “Congress should enact this compromise legislation immediately, then get back to work in January on comprehensive solutions,” she said.

The most recent regional economic report from the Stephen S. Fuller Institute at George Mason University show that the capital region’s economic recovery from COVID-19 slowed down this fall as COVID-19 cases ticked up. Unemployment filings remain high, with nearly 570,000 active claims for regular and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits in D.C., Maryland and Virginia at the end of November.

The relief bill adds $300 per week in unemployment benefits, with payments kicking in as early as Dec. 27 and expiring by March 14. The PUA program would also be extended another 11 weeks.

To curb the virus’ devastation on health and the region’s economy, officials have taken action to slow its spread, imposing a fresh round of restrictions on indoor and outdoor dining, among other measures. But a parallel increase in layoffs contributed to a spike in unemployment claims in Virginia this month, potentially prolonging the economic downturn.

Overall, the pandemic has not harmed state and local budgets as much as expected. Maryland recently raised its revenue projections for FY 2021, a $64 million increase from September’s estimates, citing higher-than-expected sales tax revenue and robust capital gains from a strong stock market. But low-income residents and small businesses continue to suffer the most, state comptroller Peter Franchot said in a statement earlier this month.

“We have hundreds of thousands of Marylanders who are unemployed and as of today are facing evictions, hunger, lack of medical care, and the end of relief payments through no fault of their own,” Franchot said.

The comptroller — who is running for governor — called on Maryland leaders to create a statewide $1.5 billion stimulus fund. The District recently announced a one-time $1,200 stimulus payment to D.C. residents who qualified for PUA, a federal program under the CARES Act that provided benefits for out-of-work contractors, gig workers and others who don’t usually qualify for the payments.

“We are entering the worst three months in Maryland’s history because of the pandemic,” Franchot continued. “The lives and livelihoods of our friends and neighbors are at stake. And with the vaccine just right around the corner, we must remain aggressive in doing all we can not only to contain the virus, but to safeguard the financial security of working families and small businesses.”

This story was updated to reflect that the relief bill passed the House. 

More on the federal aid package in our region:

Metro May Get Hundreds Of Millions In Federal Funding, Avoid Some Service Cuts