Senate Republicans are preparing to present their latest infrastructure counterproposal today after the White House on Friday lowered its own initial $2.25 trillion plan to $1.7 trillion. The latest Republican proposal is expected to total approximately $1 trillion over an eight-year period, according to Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. According to the Washington Post, a second group of Senators, including Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT), Rob Portman (R-OH) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), is working on a separate proposal.
On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Senate Democrats will move forward on an infrastructure bill in July whether a bipartisan agreement is reached or not. “It has always been our plan, regardless of the vehicle, to work on an infrastructure plan in July — and that’s our plan: To move forwards in July,” he said.
When asked whether the President’s FY 2022 budget proposal, which is expected to be released tomorrow (5/28), will incorporate the administration’s original $2.25 trillion infrastructure plan, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, “Certainly, the American Jobs Plan will be a part of the budget proposal that we put forward on Friday, but I’m not going to get further ahead of what that will look like.”
On May 24, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued additional guidance to assist states with their distribution of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to non-entitlement units of local government (NEUs), which are local governments typically serving a population under 50,000. The additional guidance does not provide specific funding allocations. Allocations will be developed within each state based on the relative population of each non-entitlement municipality. According to Treasury, states should follow the guidance and calculate allocations to NEUs based on the list of local governments and their respective populations. NEUs should review Treasury’s checklist as they prepare to request payment from their states.
Importantly, Treasury also explains, “For 42 states, the list of local governments on the Treasury website details all the local governments that are eligible for a distribution as an NEU. For the remaining eight states with minor civil divisions that typically perform less of a governmental role (Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, and South Dakota), in order to determine eligibility of their minor civil divisions, each state should undertake a facts-and-circumstances test to determine whether the minor civil division has the legal and operational capacity to accept ARPA funds and provides a broad range of services that would constitute eligible uses under ARPA.”
Capitol Hill. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) released and marked up its transportation reauthorization bill this week. The Senate is moving forward with the transportation authorization bill even though lawmakers and the White House have not reached an agreement on the cost of the American Jobs Plan, the administration’s overall infrastructure initiative including funding for transportation, water infrastructure, housing, and many other jobs- and economic stimulus-related programs. The bill is unlikely to move forward quickly, however, as three other Senate committees also have jurisdiction over transportation, and the House will not move forward on its bill until June.
Administration. The Treasury Department announced that $6.1 billion in Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program payments had been distributed in less than two weeks since $21.6 billion was allocated to the program. Separately, Treasury said that 1.8 million additional Economic Impact Payments under the American Rescue Plan Act have been distributed, bringing the total to 167 million payments valued at $391 billion.
The Department of Education released guidance yesterday that precludes state and local education officials from using pandemic relief funds to shore up their “rainy day” accounts. In addition, the guidance notes state agencies and legislatures have no authority to impose limits on how local school districts can spend the money directed to their operations.
HHS is dedicating $4.8 billion from the American Rescue Plan to support the Health Resources and Services Administration COVID-19 Uninsured Program. This funding will allow the program to continue reimbursing healthcare providers for testing uninsured individuals for COVID-19.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is distributing $3 billion in American Rescue Plan funding — the largest aggregate amount of funding to date for its mental health and substance use block grant programs.
DHS and DOL, along with Citizenship & Immigration Services, increased in the numerical limitation on H-2B nonimmigrant visas limited by 22,000. Businesseses may help an individual secure a visa by attesting the business are likely likely to suffer irreparable harm if a visa is not provided. In addition, DHS will provided portability flexibility, allowing H-2B workers already in the US to begin work with a new employer.
CDC continues investigating COVID “breakthrough infections” – fully vaccinated individuals becoming infected. A total of 10,262 vaccine breakthrough infections had been reported from 46 U.S. states and territories as of April 30, 2021. Among these cases, 63% occurred in females, and the median patient age was 58 years. Twenty-seven percent of vaccine breakthrough infections were asymptomatic, 10% were known to be hospitalized, and 2% died. Among the 995 hospitalized patients, 29% were asymptomatic or hospitalized for a reason unrelated to COVID-19. The median age of patients who died was 82 years.
The Administration released a fact sheet on the President’s proposed American Jobs Plan. According to the White House, AJP pairs $213 billion in direct funding with more than $100 billion in new and expanded tax credits aimed at producing, preserving, and retrofitting more than two million affordable and sustainable places to live in more. This includes more than 500,000 new and rehabilitated homes for low- and moderate-income homebuyers and homeowners.
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TSA is hiring 1,000 more officers before July 4 amid a surge in travel. TSA saw 1.86 million passengers in the U.S. fly in one day this past Sunday, the most since the pandemic began in March 2020.
Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity announced plans to end weekly pandemic unemployment benefits on June 26. The state agency issued a statement this week saying the state added 18,000 private sector jobs in April, with more than 460,000 job postings online for unemployed workers.
United Airlines announced it is giving travelers a chance to win a year of free flights to anywhere in the world it flies in exchange for getting vaccinated against COVID-19. As part of United’s “Your Shot to Fly” sweepstakes, frequent fliers in the airline’s MileagePlus program can upload their vaccination records to a mobile app or website until June 22.
The U.S. issued a travel warning for Japan over the country’s COVID-19 surge, amid heightened scrutiny just weeks before the Tokyo Olympics. However, U.S. Olympic officials have said they are confident their athletes will be able to take part safely in the games beginning on July 23.
Vaccine News
According to the CDC, 50 percent of all American adults are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The U.S. is nearing half of its total population having received at least one dose of the vaccine, with 49.5 percent of Americans getting at least one shot. Almost 40 percent of the total population, including children under 12 who are not yet authorized to get the vaccine, are considered fully vaccinated.
The World Health Organization’s director-general called for all counties to vaccinate at least 10 percent of their populations by September and at least 30 percent by the end of 2021. To reach the September target, 250 million have to get vaccinated.
Moderna announced studies found its COVID-19 vaccine was 100 percent effective at stopping infection in adolescents aged 12 to 17. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize Moderna's vaccine for adolescents.
Pfixer-BioNTech pledged by the end of 2021 to provide 1 billion doses of their COVID-19 vaccine to low-income countries at no profit and moderate-income countries at lower prices. Johnson & Johnson announced they would provide 200 million doses of its vaccine to Covax.
Japanese health officials are opening up mass vaccination sites across the country as Japan prepares to host the Summer Olympic Games. There are two centers in Tokyo and Osaka. Japan aims to vaccinate all elderly residents before an influx of foreign athletes and support staff arrive for the Games.
Pennsylvania became the 10th state to hit President Biden’s goal of having at least 70 percent of the adult population receive at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.
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Webinars, Events and Resources |
Breaking Down ARPA: Understanding the Funding Available to Your County
NACo
June 4 – 2:00 PM ET
NACo Cyberattack Simulation – Pandemic
NACo
June 21 – 10:00 AM ET
CRS Reports of interest:
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