On Wednesday, the House passed the Senate-passed version of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (H.R. 1319) by a vote of 220-211. After several days of consideration last week, the Senate passed an amended version of the bill on March 6 by a vote of 50-49, which included several changes to the initial version of the legislation passed by the House on February 27.
The White House announced this morning that President Joe Biden will sign the bill into law later this afternoon on Thursday, March 11. President Biden is also scheduled to deliver a 20-minute prime-time address from the Oval Office on Thursday at 8:02pm ET to mark the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus shutdown in the U.S. and to highlight the next phase of national recovery efforts.
TFG will be publishing an in-depth Special Report soon on all the major provisions contained in the legislation.
Big-ticket items in the final legislation of interest to state and local governments include:
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$360 billion to local, county, state, tribal, and territorial governments to help mitigate the fiscal effects tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. Counties will receive a total of $65.1 billion; municipalities with populations over 50,000 will receive $45.57 billion; and municipalities with less than 50,000 people will receive $19.53 billion. Local and county recipients will be able to use the funds, which will be distributed in two tranches over one year (the first tranche will be released by mid-May 2021), to cover costs incurred by December 31, 2024 to:
- respond to the COVID-19 emergency and address its negative economic impacts;
- provide premium pay to essential employees or grants to their employers, up to $13/hour or $25,000/worker;
- provide government services affected by a revenue reduction during the pandemic relative to revenues collected in the most recent full fiscal year prior to the start of the pandemic; or
- to make necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure.
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$30.5 billion to public transit agencies to prevent layoffs of transit workers and prevent severe cuts to transit services. Most of the transit relief funding ($26.087 billion) is provided as formula grants to urbanized areas with populations above 200,000.
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$8 billion for airport sponsors, which generally refers to public agencies and private owners of public-use airports.
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$21.6 billion for Emergency Rental Assistance Program funding through the Treasury Department to help low-income renters with rent and utility payments. Funds would be allocated to states and to localities and counties with at least 200,000 people, and each state would receive at least $152 million.
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$9.96 billion to establish a Homeowner Assistance Fund at the Treasury Department. The department would allocate funds requested by states, territories, and tribes to prevent homeowner mortgage defaults, foreclosures, and displacements.
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$5 billion for emergency Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, which HUD will provide through public housing agencies.
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$50 billion for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund to respond to COVID-19 and other major disasters and emergencies declared by the president. Funding would remain available through September 30, 2025.
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$510 million for FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program, with $110 million set-aside to provide humanitarian relief to families and individuals encountered by the Homeland Security Department.
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$300 million for FEMA’s firefighter grant programs.
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$100 million for FEMA’s Emergency Management Performance Grants.
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$7.17 billion for an “Emergency Connectivity Fund” to cover the purchase of broadband service and devices by schools and libraries for use by students, staff, and patrons at other locations.
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$4 billion to the Agriculture Department to purchase and distribute food and agricultural commodities, including seafood, and to make grants and loans to small and midsized food processors and distributors.
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$122.8 billion for grants to states to support local educational agencies in addressing learning loss.
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$3 billion in Economic Development Administration funding to aid communities in rebuilding local economies, which includes a $750 million set-aside for the travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation sectors.
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$4.5 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
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$500 million to HHS to provide financial assistance to low-income consumers and other consumers adversely affected financially by COVID-19 to assist with payments for drinking water and wastewater expenses.
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$47.8 billion for testing and tracing activities; $8.5 billion for vaccine activities at the CDC; $7.66 billion to expand the public health workforce, including grants to state, local, and territorial health departments; $7.6 billion for community health centers; and $3 billion for block grant programs under the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
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$28.6 billion for a Restaurant Revitalization Fund to be administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) to help restaurants, bars, food trucks, and caterers.
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$1.25 billion in additional funding for SBA grants to live venues and other cultural institutions.
- An extension, through September 30, 2021, of reimbursable tax credits for employer-provided paid sick and family leave, including for state and local governments.
Administration. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the American Rescue Plan will allow Americans to “emerge from the pandemic with the foundations of their lives intact.” Yellen added, “Indeed, we are now charting a very different course out of this crisis compared to the one a decade ago. Rather than a long, slow recovery, I expect we could reach full employment by as soon as next year.”
Treasury announced the Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP), a new initiative designed to support access to capital in communities traditionally excluded from the financial system and that have struggled the most during the COVID-19 crisis. The program will invest $9 billion in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and minority depository institutions (MDIs), supporting their efforts to provide financial products for small and minority-owned businesses and consumers in low-income and underserved communities.
A CDC study found that mandating masks was associated with a decrease in daily COVID-19 case and death growth rates within 20 days of implementation. Also, allowing on-premises restaurant dining was associated with an increase in daily COVID-19 case growth rates 41–100 days after implementation and an increase in daily death growth rates 61–100 days after implementation.
FCC announced upcoming milestone dates for the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, a $3.2 billion program providing $50 per month to help lower the cost of highspeed internet for eligible households during the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.
HHS announced a $250 million program to encourage COVID-19 safety and vaccination among underserved populations. The health literacy grants will be available to localities, who will partner with community-based organizations, to reach racial and ethnic minority, rural and other vulnerable populations. The new initiative – Advancing Health Literacy to Enhance Equitable Community Responses to COVID-19 – is expected to fund approximately 30 projects in urban communities and 43 projects in rural communities for two years. Cities, counties, parishes, or other similar subdivisions may apply for the funding by April 20, 2021.
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NACo released a statement welcoming the inclusion of a new program, the Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency Fund, to provide additional direct aid to public lands counties as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. The Fund will provide $1.5 billion in direct, flexible aid to public lands counties over the next two years, in addition to the American Rescue Plan Act’s $65.1 billion county aid package. NACo also released a statement applauding the Senate passage of the State and Local Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Funds legislation.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors praised the passage of the “American Rescue Plan Act of 2021” and the inclusion of direct financial relief for state and local governments.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found in its March interim report that “global economic recovery is in sight,” following the rollout of coronavirus vaccines around the world and the coronavirus stimulus package moving forward in Congress. The OECD found that global gross domestic product growth is projected to reach 5.6 percent this year, a more than 1% increase from the group’s December prediction.
The Hill provided an overview of how industry groups, including restaurants, airlines, travel, child care, and gyms, have responded to the passage of the “American Rescue Plan.” The overview discusses how some industries like restaurants and bars will benefit greatly from the relief, while others, such as gyms did not receive relief in the legislation.
Vaccine News
Eli Lilly found its antibody drug for the coronavirus cut the risk of hospitalization and death from the virus by 87%.
States are preparing to receive between 22 and 24 million doses a week of coronavirus vaccines by April – a 50% increase from current allocations – requiring states to bolster their vaccine rollout infrastructure.
CDC issued guidance regarding proper behaviors for those who have been fully vaccinated. Notwithstanding the increasing numbers of people receiving vaccinations, the CDC still recommends postponing domestic and international travel. The New York Times summarized the recently released CDC guidance for vaccinated Americans, including descriptions of the activities now permitted for fully vaccinated individuals.
FEMA established the Civil Rights Advisory Group to evaluate the policies, practices, strategies and plans in place to ensure equity in vaccine access and administration. The advisory group created the Civil Rights Checklist to provide states, territories and tribes a list of civil rights considerations and resources to ensure equitable vaccine access.
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