Coalition of Organizations Representing Public and Private Sectors Sends Letter to House Leaders Urging Swift Passage of Bipartisan Bill to Increase Flexibility for American Rescue Plan Act Funds
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WASHINGTON – A coalition of organizations representing both the public and private sectors, headed by the National Association of Counties (NACo), today sent a letter to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy calling for the passage of the bipartisan State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Fiscal Recovery, Infrastructure, and Disaster Relief Flexibility Act (S. 3011/H.R. 5735). The bill, unanimously passed by the U.S. Senate, would provide recipients of the American Rescue Plan Act’s (ARPA) Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund with the flexibility to invest a portion of this critical aid in transportation, infrastructure and government services, and ensure recipients can fulfill the Congressional intent of the ARPA.
An excerpt from the letter reads:
The State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Fiscal Recovery, Infrastructure, and Disaster Relief Flexibility Act will build on the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA) by giving state and local governments the flexibility to use ARPA funds to invest in infrastructure immediately while the IIJA is implemented over the next several years.
“This legislation would ensure that state and local governments, which collectively own nearly 100 percent of the nation’s transportation infrastructure, can meet their responsibilities to the nation as intergovernmental partners. These responsibilities include significant public infrastructure leadership, including owning, operating and maintaining public roads, bridges and our nation’s public transit systems, and providing government services such as public health, justice, human services, and safety.
“Passage of this legislation – a bipartisan compromise that unanimously passed the U.S. Senate – is key to successfully achieving our shared goals of helping our residents thrive. This new legislation would provide much-needed flexibility in state and local ARPA funds and would neither mandate funds be used in any particular way nor increase overall federal appropriations. This bill would also cap infrastructure investments to ensure funds are not diverted from the ongoing public health emergency.”
Read the full letter, signed by the below organizations, here.
National Association of Counties American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials American Bus Association American Council of Engineering Companies American Foundry Society American Highway Users Alliance American Public Transportation Association American Public Works Association American Road & Transportation Builders Association American Society of Civil Engineers American Subcontractors Association Associated General Contractors of America Building America's Future Community Transportation Association of America Design-Build Institute of America FP2, Formerly the Foundation for Pavement Preservation Government Finance Officers Association Institute of Transportation Engineers League of American Bicyclists National Asphalt Pavement Association National Association for County Community and Economic Development National Association of County Engineers National Association of Development Organizations National Association of Home Builders National Association of Regional Councils National Association of Surety Bond Producers National Community Development Association National League of Cities National Precast Concrete Association National Society of Professional Surveyors Portland Cement Association Safe Routes Partnership Subsurface Utility Engineering Association United States Chamber of Commerce United States Conference of Mayors U.S. Geospatial Executives Organization |
The American Rescue Plan, which NACo helped to develop and strongly advocated to pass, includes $65.1 billion in direct, flexible aid for every county, parish and borough in America. Visit NACo’s COVID-19 Recovery Clearinghouse here.