The Treasury Department issued its long-awaited final rule for the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Program (SLFRF). The 437-page final rule is here and a 44-page overview is here. To date, Treasury has distributed more than $245 billion to state, local, and Tribal governments as a part of the SLFRF program, accounting for over 99% of funds eligible to be disbursed in 2021. Recipients of funds were encouraged to begin using funds under the interim final rule, which was released in May 2021.
Additional important resources include:
Tool for Determining Low and Moderate Income (LMI) Households which provides a spreadsheet to assist recipients in determining income thresholds for the Final Rule’s definition of LMI in their jurisdiction and assist with administering the public health and economic response provisions of the Final Rule.
According to a Treasury press release, the SLFRF final rule provides additional clarity and flexibility for recipient governments and includes provisions that will:
- Expand the non-exhaustive list of uses recipients can use to respond to COVID-19 and its economic impacts – ensuring states and localities can adapt quickly and nimbly to changing public health and economic needs. This includes clarifying that recipients can use funds for certain capital expenditures to respond to public health and economic impacts and making services like childcare, early education, addressing learning loss, and affordable housing development available to all communities impacted by the pandemic.
- Expand support for public sector hiring and capacity, which is critical for the economic recovery and in maintaining vital public services for communities.
- Streamline options to provide premium pay for essential workers, who bear the greatest health risks because of their service in critical sectors.
- Broaden eligible water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure projects – understanding the unique challenges facing each state and locality in delivering clean water and high-speed broadband to their communities.
- Simplify the program for small localities – many of whom have received a historic federal investment in their communities through this program – including through the option to elect a standard allowance for revenue loss rather than calculating revenue loss through the full formula.
On Monday, December 27th the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shortened the recommended isolation time for people testing positive for COVID-19 from 10 days to five days if they are asymptomatic. The CDC cited several factors for the change, including evidence that those infected with coronavirus are most infectious in the two days before and three days after symptoms arise. The CDC released data from 17 countries showing “most transmission occurs early in the course of infection. The highly infectious Omicron variant also played a large role in the change. “We want to make sure there is a mechanism by which we can safely continue to keep society functioning while following the science,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.
Last week, the Biden Administration brought over-the-counter at-home COVID-19 tests to the U.S. market. The two tests, one manufactured by SD Biosensor and the other by Siemens, have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to receive an emergency use authorization (EUA). With the new approval, White House officials believe tens of millions of at-home tests will be available per month.
The FDA authorized Pfizer’s COVID-19 pill on December 22nd. The authorization provides individuals 12 years of age and older who are high risk of developing a severe case of the virus access to a pill called Paxlovid. Pfizer’s clinical trials resulted in an 89 percent reduction of risk of hospitalization or death when the pill is taken three days after symptoms of COVID-19 arise.
The White House announced on Wednesday that it has no plans of including the booster shot in the definition of “fully vaccinated.” CDC Director Walensky said, “individuals are considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19 if they've received their primary series, that definition is not changing.” This news comes as the Supreme Court has decided to hear its first case in 30 years involving the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Tomorrow, Friday, January 7th, the Court will hear arguments on whether a stay should suspend OSHA’s standards requiring large employers to mitigate worker exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19 by ensuring their workers are either vaccinated or masked and tested weekly. The case comes after the Sixth Circuit supported the OSHA rule and lifted a stay imposed earlier by the Fifth Circuit.
On Wednesday, the U.S. saw a record number of COVID-19 pediatric hospital admissions. HHS released data showing COVID-19 related hospital admissions totaled 951 children, the highest number of the pandemic. Many believe Omicron is the reason for the number of pediatric hospital cases nearly tripling over the past two weeks.
Capitol Hill
On January 5th, The Washington Post reported that Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) in recent weeks have held discussions about Congress passing another round of COVID stimulus spending: “The efforts have focused primarily on authorizing billions of dollars to help an array of businesses — including restaurants, performance venues, gyms and even minor league sports teams — that face another potential blow to their already-battered balance sheets as a result of the evolving pandemic. […] The duo in mid-December cobbled together the outlines of a roughly $68 billion proposal, two of the people said, which could include a mix of new spending and a repurposing of some unused cash authorized under previous packages.”
However, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said yesterday that while the Biden Administration is “in constant discussions with Congress and leadership” about further COVID-related relief, there was no “new prediction of new pending requests or specific requests” and she maintained that the Administration has the resources to respond to any immediate economic disruption caused by the omicron wave.
On January 5th, the GOP Ranking Members of the House Budget, Energy and Commerce (E&C), and Ways and Means Committees sent a letter to President Joe Biden requesting information from the Administration regarding funding provided by the six previously enacted COVID relief bills (from March 2020—March 2021), “so that Congress and the American people can fully understand the reason why your White House would request more taxpayer funds in the name of combatting COVID-19.”
On January 5th, House E&C Committee Ranking Member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and other E&C subcommittee ranking members announced the launch of a webpage for whistleblowers as a resource “to contact them with information pertaining to their investigation of the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
On January 3rd, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-NC) and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) sent a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra urging him, “to detail the administration’s strategy for solving the nation’s severe shortage of COVID-19 tests as coronavirus cases driven by the omicron variant continue to skyrocket.”
On December 30th, House Education and Labor Committee Ranking Member Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA), House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Republican Study Committee Chair Jim Banks (R-IN), and Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) led 136 GOP Representatives and 47 GOP Senators in filing an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the upcoming Jan. 7 case considering the Biden Administration’s OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring private employers with over 100 employees to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine or weekly testing. The brief argues, “that Congress did not give OSHA the authority to impose a vaccine mandate and urges SCOTUS to stay the mandate.”
Administration
The White House COVID-19 Response Team held a press briefing outlining the latest science on the Omicron variant. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky noted in her remarks the current seven-day average of COVID cases is approximately 491,700 cases per day—a 98% increase over last week.
On December 31st, the FCC officially launched the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), the $14.2 billion successor program to the Emergency Broadband Benefit, which helped almost nine million afford internet access during the pandemic. Under the ACP, eligible households may receive up to a $30 per month discount toward internet service and a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet.
HHS announced $48 million funding for community-based organizations to expand public health capacity in rural and tribal communities through health care job development, training, and placement. The application deadline is March 18th.
CDC released two reports highlighting the use of test-to-stay practices used in schools to minimize absenteeism and learning loss which can occur during traditional quarantine at home. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona released a statement on test-to-stay.
The Department of Education announced a 90-day extension of the pause on student loan repayment, interest, and collections through May 1, 2022. The extension will allow the Administration to assess the impacts of the Omicron variant on student borrowers and provide additional time for borrowers to plan for the resumption of payments and reduce the risk of delinquency and defaults after restart.
The Department of Education also released the 2022 application for the Statewide Family Engagement Centers program. The program will award $5 million in grants providing financial support to organizations that offer technical assistance and training to state educational agencies and school districts in the implementation of effective family engagement policies, programs, and activities that lead to improvements in student development and academic achievement.
As reported in yesterday’s TFG Transportation Notes, The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in coordination with the Department of Education, announced it would give states the option of waiving the portion of the commercial driver’s license skills test that requires school bus driver applicants to identify the “under the hood” engine components.
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Starbucks will require U.S. workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing to comply with federal rules, the company announced this week. More companies are expected to make similar announcements as the January 10 deadline to comply with President Biden’s vaccine-or-test mandate approaches. Companies with 100 or more employees must collect their workers’ vaccination status by January 10th and enforce the testing alternative by February 9th.
Amazon limited how many of the company’s at-home tests customers can purchase at a time. The self-tests are highly sought after as in-person test sites are overwhelmed with long lines of people waiting to be tested for the virus. But other stores have already limited how many at-home COVID-19 tests customers can purchase.
Vaccine News
In late December, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s Paxlovid for the treatment of mild-to-moderate coronavirus disease in adults and pediatric patients with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 testing, and who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death. Paxlovid is available by prescription only and should be initiated as soon as possible after diagnosis of COVID-19 and within five days of symptom onset.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is urging the pursuit of a universal coronavirus vaccine. The writers and researchers have outlined the features of an ideal universal coronavirus vaccine that would provide durable protection from most or all coronaviruses for individuals of all ages and communities at large.
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Webinars, Events and Resources |
Planning for Economic Recovery
ICMA
January 13, 1:00 PM ET
A Post-Pandemic Legacy: Bolstering Justice for the County of Tomorrow
NACo
January 26, 3:30 PM ET
Investing ARPA Funds in Behavioral Health Crisis Response
NACo
February 22, 3:00 PM ET
CRS Reports:
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