U.S. Senate passes legislation that would expand eligible uses of Recovery Fund
Key Takeaways
On October 19, the U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Fiscal Recovery, Infrastructure, and Disaster Relief Flexibility Act (S. 3011), which would provide additional flexibility for the $350 billion Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (Recovery Fund) authorized under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
The legislation, which now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives for a vote, would strengthen the Recovery Fund in the following ways:
- Allow counties to allocate up to $10 million in ARPA Recovery Funds for the provision of government services or $10 million (or 30 percent) for infrastructure-related activities authorized under existing federal surface transportation laws or a Community Development Block Grant project
- Allow ARPA Recovery Funds to provide emergency relief from natural disasters and their negative economic impacts, including temporary emergency housing, food assistance, financial assistance for lost wages, or other immediate needs
The Recovery Fund, which NACo helped develop and strongly advocated for its passage, is a historic investment in our nation’s counties. These funds provide direct, flexible aid for every county, parish and borough in America.
NACo is urging counties to contact your U.S. Representatives and urge their support for final passage of S. 3011, which will help counties achieve our goal of successfully implementing the Recovery Fund to ensure the health and well-being of our residents and economic vitality for our communities.
County News
Proposed legislation lends more flexibility to recovery fund spending for counties
Across the country, counties are continuing a frontline response to the devastating effects of COVID-19, as well as beginning to look toward economic recovery.
Related News
Midterms advance county officials, Florida property tax cut
Voters advanced several current and former county officials to higher office, but also approved a policy that will threaten county budgets in Florida.
NACo submits comments on Census Bureau's proposed rule on the 2030 decennial census
On September 10, the U.S Census Bureau published a proposed rule to the 2030 Decennial Census that would create two new parts of the 15 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) that among other changes would a) define “usual residence” that excludes foreign persons previously counted that are not U.S. citizens or lawful residents, and b) would eliminate any questions about race, ethnicity and sexual orientation from the census questionnaire used to enumerate the population. The proposed ruling outlines only 30 days for public comments, which are due on November 2.