Investigating the Impacts of COVID-19 on Government Travel Expenditure: An Analysis of The House of Representatives
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 sent shockwaves through the global economy, with the travel industry especially bearing a disproportionate and significant burden of the ensuing disruptions. In response to the pandemic, governments around the world implemented many new regulations and restrictions aimed at slowing the inevitable spread of the virus. This included both national restrictions between territories and international restrictions between countries, which had a profound impact on travel and tourism related activities. Against this backdrop, it becomes imperative to examine the implications of these new rules on government spending, particularly in the context of travel expenses. One such part of the government to look into is the house of representatives which typically have significantly more sway and more budget in the government than officials at a local or even state level.
The general thought on this is that over a selected period of time spanning from 2019 (the year before the pandemic), 2020 (the year the pandemic hit), and 2022 (one year post pandemic), there would some decrease in government spending on travel within this selected branch (The House of Representatives). This hypothesis is based on the assumption that the COVID-19 induced disruption that severely damaged the travel industry would also have an influence on travel related expenditures for House members.
Methodology
To empirically test this hypothesis, an analysis of House disbursement data on spending was conducted, focusing specifically on the first quarter (Q1) of these selected years (2019, 2020, 2022). These years were chosen deliberately for the context of the situation, with the hopes that they would provide a comprehensive understanding of the evolving trends in government spending on travel amidst the Coronavirus. The data utilized for this analysis was sourced from the House Office Expenditure section of the ProPublica website. This is a large source of quarterly expenditure from the House that has had data published publicly since 2009. The thought was to create a histogram for each of these years displaying the spending amount and frequency of amounts for each of these years with a visible median line, and then to plot the median lines on the same graph. This would allow for direct comparison of the median values with hopes to see movement on a downward trend since the start of the pandemic.
Results and Analysis
The analysis yielded some consistent findings that supported the hypothesized decree in government spending on travel within the House of Representatives following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Graphical representation of these trends, in the form of histograms with logarithmic scales, were employed to visually depict the expenditures across the selected years. In 2019, serving as the baseline year preceding the pandemic, the histogram indicated a relatively higher level of spending on travel within the House when compared to the other years with its median value. 2020 however had a surprising turn with a higher frequency of spending in Q1. Its median value is still lower than that of 2019 but it was a shock to see the increase in frequency. It is most likely due to the fact that as the pandemic set on, many officials had to return to their families or needed to get business done that they would not be able to do for a while with the restrictions rolling in. Moreover, in 2022, two years after the beginning of the pandemic, while there was a marginal rebound in the median spending for travel activities when compared to 2020, the expenditure levels remained notably lower than the levels observed in 2019. The shape of all three of these histograms is also relatively consistent.
The last figure created was using the 2022 graph with all three median lines overlaid. It can be seen that the line for 2022 (blue) is the furthest left, meaning it has the lowest median value, 2020 (red) is in the middle, and 2019 (yellow) is furthest right. The histograms vividly illustrated a downward trajectory in median lines for amount spent, which corroborated the hypothesis that COVID-19 had an impact of government spending in this domain.
Conclusion
The finding of this study provides evidence that substantiates the hypothesis that government spending on travel related activities in the House of Representatives experienced a marked decrease following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis of expenditure data from 2019, 2020, and 2022 additionally demonstrates the effects that the regulations on travel had during this pandemic. Moving forward, it is important for policymakers and stakeholders in our government to acknowledge trends that result from events like pandemics and adapt their budgetary allocations and spending priorities accordingly. Furthermore, additional research and analysis may be warranted to explore the broader implications of COVID-19 on governmental spending across various sectors between all levels. This could facilitate more informed decision-making and policy formulation processes.
