The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a massive change to daily life on a global scale and further exacerbated pre-existing racial and socioeconomic disparities in health with racial/ethnic minorities and individuals with low-income more likely to be infected, die, or suffer economic consequences. A new report published in a special issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health by University of California researchers summarizes the development of a publicly available California- and US-based COVID-19 policy database. The database includes 39 public health, economic, housing, and safety net programs and policies implemented at both federal and state levels due to the pandemic and provides details of the policy landscape in California from March 2020 to November 2021. Researchers can leverage the information systematically recorded in this database to assess the effects of these policies, which can inform future preparedness response plans in California and beyond. Interested investigators can access the full database and associated documentation in the GitHub repository. Report authors include Kaitlyn Jackson, Joseph Yeb and Rita Hamad from UC San Francisco, Wendi Gosliner from the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Nutrition Policy Institute, and Lia CH Fernald from UC Berkeley. The project was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Institutes of Health (grant numbers U01-MH129968 and 3R01AG063385-03S1).