The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented event that will affect government budgets and capital improvement programs (CIPs) in both the short term and the long term. During the 2008 financial crisis, we saw decreased spending in the commercial sector and increased spending in the government sector. In this instance, the situation is reversed. While some commercial sectors may be spending more heavily, most state and local government agencies are cutting their spending because of the significant loss of tax revenues triggered by the pandemic.

"In addition to slashed project budgets caused by lost tax revenue, COVID-19 has brought other challenges to government CIP decision-makers. Health and safety concerns combined with impacts of the illness itself on individual workers have reduced worker availability."