The Washington Post reports top Biden administration officials are debating whether they should urge vaccinated Americans to again wear masks as the delta variant causes spikes in coronavirus infections across the country. “Officials cautioned that any new formal guidance would have to come from the CDC, and they maintained that the White House has taken a hands-off approach with the agency to ensure they are not interfering with the work of scientists. But the high-level discussions reflect rising concerns across the administration about the threat of the delta variant and a renewed focus on what measures may need to be reintroduced to slow its spread.” On Wednesday, President Biden did say the CDC would likely issue guidance encouraging children who have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus to wear masks in schools.
Vaccination rates continue to slow even as the highly-infectious delta variant spreads, though vaccination rates vary considerably by state. There are currently more than 40,000 new cases of coronavirus infections a day, an increase from a low of about 11,000 cases a day in June (The Washington Post).
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy is issuing the first Surgeon General's Advisory of this administration to warn the American public about the urgent threat of health misinformation. Health misinformation, including disinformation, have threatened the U.S. response to COVID-19 and continue to prevent Americans from getting vaccinated, prolonging the pandemic and putting lives at risk, and the advisory encourages technology and social media companies to take more responsibility to stop online spread of health misinformation.
Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced the opening of six programs, collectively called “Investing in America’s Communities,” that the Economic Development Administration (EDA) will implement to invest the $3 billion it received from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). Each program has its own guidance and solicitation deadlines. More information on each program is below:
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Build Back Better Regional Challenge ($1 billion) will provide significant investments to 20-30 regions across the country to revitalize their economies. These regions will have the opportunity to grow new regional industry clusters or scale existing ones through planning, infrastructure, innovation and entrepreneurship, workforce development, access to capital, and more. (Phase 1 application deadline is October 19, 2021.)
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Good Jobs Challenge ($500 million) will provide investment to develop and strengthen regional workforce training systems and sector-based partnerships with a focus on programs targeted at women, people of color, and historically underserved communities. (Application deadline is January 26, 2022.)
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Economic Adjustment Assistance ($500 million), EDA’s most flexible program, will provide grants to support a wide range of technical, planning, workforce development, entrepreneurship, and public works and infrastructure projects. As part of the $300 million Coal Communities Commitment, EDA will allocate at least $200 million of the Economic Adjustment Assistance funding to support coal communities. (Application deadline is March 15, 2022, but applications are accepted on a rolling basis.)
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Indigenous Communities ($100 million) program will work hand-in-hand with Tribal Governments and Indigenous communities to support a wide range of technical, planning, workforce development, entrepreneurship, and public works and infrastructure projects. (Application deadline is March 15, 2022, but applications are accepted on a rolling basis.)
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Travel, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation ($750 million) program will focus on revitalizing the hard-hit travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation industries and accelerate the recovery of communities that rely on these sectors. State Tourism Grants ($510 million) will provide non-competitive awards to help states quickly invest in marketing, infrastructure, workforce, and other projects to rejuvenate safe leisure, business, and international travel (application due 60 days after receiving invitation). Competitive grants ($240 million) will help communities that have been hardest hit by challenges facing the travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation sectors to invest in infrastructure, workforce, or other projects to support the recovery of the industry and economic resilience of the community in the future. (Application deadline is March 15, 2022, but applications are accepted on a rolling basis.)
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Statewide Planning, Research and Networks ($90 million) grants include funding for state planning efforts, as well as grants to build Communities of Practice to extend technical assistance to support EDA’s work with grantees. Through the Statewide Planning, Research and Networks program, EDA is supporting states in planning efforts by allocating $59 million for Statewide Planning Grants (applicant due 45 days after receiving invitation). In addition, the program will allocate $31 million for Research and Networks Grants to invest in research that assesses the effectiveness of EDA’s programs, and provides support for stakeholder communities around key EDA initiatives. (Application deadline is October 31, 2021, but applications are accepted on a rolling basis.)
In other news, key Senate negotiators said in a statement that they have made “significant progress” on bipartisan infrastructure legislation, and a group of Republicans said in a letter that they could be ready to advance the package on the chamber floor as soon as Monday. The comments came as Senate Republicans blocked a motion on Wednesday by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to start debate on the deal struck almost a month ago (The Washington Post). For more information on the status of infrastructure legislation negotiations, please see the July 21 edition of TFG’s Transportation Notes.
Capitol Hill
On July 19, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a 438-page report on “COVID-19: Continued Attention Needed to Enhance Federal Preparedness, Response, Service Delivery, and Program Integrity.” In the report, the GAO urges the federal government to “remain vigilant and agile to address new COVID-19 variants and potential unexpected events or unintended consequences of recovery and response efforts while concurrently preparing for future public health emergencies.” The report makes 15 new recommendations for federal agencies.
On July 20, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on “The Path Forward: A Federal Perspective on the COVID-19 Response,” with four government witnesses: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci; Food and Drug Administration Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock; and HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell. The witnesses discussed the significant progress made in combatting COVID-19, the importance of continuing to get more people vaccinated, and what more can be done to slow the current spread of the virus and reduce the risk of future outbreaks. The Senate HELP Committee has scheduled a hearing on Tuesday, July 27 on “The Path Forward: Building on Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
On July 20, House Oversight Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Chair James Clyburn (D-SC) announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on Tuesday, July 27 on “Oversight of Pandemic Evictions: Assessing Abuses by Corporate Landlords and Federal Efforts to Keep Americans in Their Homes.” The hearing will “address the effective use of emergency rental assistance funds, highlight best practices and the successes of ARPA, and identify what further actions need to be taken to prevent a housing crisis and keep families in their homes.” The Subcommittee “seeks to understand the status and delivery of these federal funds as an alternative to eviction, including whether large landlords are cooperating with federally-funded rental assistance programs. With the CDC eviction moratorium scheduled to expire on July 31, next week’s hearing will feature experts discussing these timely issues as part of the new investigation.”
On Thursday, July 29, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing on “Assessing the Federal Government’s COVID-19 Relief and Response Efforts and its Impact.”
Administration
Treasury extended the deadline for states and territories to either submit Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) Plans or notify Treasury of the date by which their HAF plan will be submitted. The new due date is July 31, 2021. This deadline does not apply to Tribes.
HUD announced it is making $19.4 million available to help Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) agencies conduct activities that will address discriminatory housing practices related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds will allow private fair housing enforcement organizations to respond to fair housing inquires and complaints, conduct fair housing testing, and implement education and outreach activities related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds will also be used to address fair housing issues affecting individuals and families experiencing housing instability, including those who may face displacement due to discriminatory evictions and foreclosures.
Treasury and the IRS announced roughly $15 billion were paid to families that include nearly 60 million eligible children in the first monthly payment of the Child Tax Credit under ARPA. Eligible families received a payment of up to $300 per month for each child under age 6 and up to $250 per month for each child aged 6 to 17. Approximately 86% were sent by direct deposit. IRS and partners in non-profit organizations, churches, community groups and others will host additional events in several cities this weekend to help eligible families register for the payments.
Treasury announced more than $1.5 billion in assistance was delivered to eligible households in the month of June under the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program, more than the assistance provided all three previous reporting periods combined. In June, 290,000 households were served, up from 160,000 served in May and approximately 100,000 in April.
Treasury and IRS announced they have disbursed more than 2.2 million additional Economic Impact Payments under ARPA, bringing the total payments so far to more than 171 million with a total value of more than $400 billion.
Treasury updated its table of the status of Fiscal Recovery Fund payments to states for distribution to non-entitlement units of local government (NEUs).
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The Biden Administration renewed its restrictions on U.S.-Canada land border crossings this week for at least another month. The e Canadian government had taken steps to reopen the border to fully vaccinated, nonessential American workers by August 9.
As reported in TFG Transportation Notes, the City of Chicago added three states and a U.S. territory to its COVID-19 travel advisory this week. Unvaccinated travelers from Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, and the U.S. Virgin Islands will be advised to obtain a negative COVID-19 test no more than 72 hours before coming into the city, or quarantine for 10 days upon arrival, the Chicago Department of Public health announced.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) said Florida will fight a recent court order that left in place CDC restrictions on cruise ships amid the pandemic. Under the CDC’s orders, cruise lines were required to adhere to a set of testing and safety measures before being able to take to the waters after a surge in COVID-19 outbreaks were recorded on cruise ships last year. Earlier this month, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings brought a lawsuit against the state of Florida over its ban on vaccine passports.
Royal Caribbean International became the first big-ship cruise line to embark on a return to Alaska this week, ending a 21-month drop in tourism for Southeast Alaska. The ship is traveling with predominantly vaccinated passengers, though those under the age of 16 are permitted onboard without having been vaccinated. There are selected areas of the ship that are designated for vaccinated passengers only, such as the lounge and casino.
Vaccine News
The CDC vaccine advisory panel will discuss a clinical consideration for a third COVID-19 shot for immunocompromised individuals. The FDA and CDC announced that Americans who have been fully inoculated do not need a booster shot.
President Biden said the CDC is likely to issue guidance encouraging unvaccinated children to wear masks in school. Vaccinated children over the age of 12 are not required to wear a mask.
Pfizer and BioNTech announced their partnership with the South African biopharmaceutical company, Biovac Institute, to manufacture the final stages of their COVID-19 vaccine for distribution across the 55 countries of the African Union. The Biovac facility is expected to open at full operational capacity at the end of 2021.
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Webinars, Events and Resources |
Building Back Stronger: A Post-Pandemic Public Health Workforce Webinar
NACo
July 22, 11:00 AM ET
Leveraging ARPA Funds for Infants and Toddlers through State and Local Coordination
NACo
August 4, 1:00 PM ET
CRS Reports of interest:
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