The State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) provided under President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act continue to play a crucial role in allowing county governments to stabilize their budgets, respond to the pandemic, and invest in their communities. SLFRF provides more than $65 billion in flexible aid to county governments, representing the first time in history this level of direct Federal support has gone to every county across the nation.
In mid-2020, over 70 percent of counties reported that they had cut or delayed capital investments and over two-thirds had cut or delayed their county services.[1] However, with the aid of SLFRF and other Administration initiatives, this economic recovery has been one of the strongest in modern history, with the largest jobs gains on record, the creation of 10 million new businesses, real GDP per capita that is at an all-time high, and an unemployment rate near record lows for Black and Hispanic Americans.
This recovery has been driven in part by local governments that continue to make rapid use of SLFRF funds to address needs in their communities. Based on the most recent public reporting data (which covers spending as of September 30, 2022), county governments are making transformational investments with economic recovery funds in areas such as public health, affordable housing, supporting workers, stimulating local economic growth through small businesses, making transformative investments in key infrastructure, and stabilizing government finances.
As part of the Administration’s efforts to expand access to affordable housing, Treasury has encouraged jurisdictions to consider using SLFRF to invest in expanding the housing supply or to supplement other American Rescue Plan programs aiding renters and homeowners, such as the Emergency Rental Assistance program and the Homeowners Assistance Fund. In particular, county governments played a key role in the implementation of the Emergency Rental Assistance program and delivered billions of dollars in rental assistance to tenants in their communities. In July 2022, Treasury also announced new flexibilities and tools to make support for housing affordability investments even easier, including increasing flexibility to fully finance certain long-term affordable housing loans.
Through September 2022, SLFRF recipients have reported budgeting $14.2 billion on nearly 1,800 housing affordability-related projects – including efforts to both provide short-term assistance and develop new, permanent supply. That reflects an increase of 15% in the number of projects since the previous reporting period in July, which captured budgeting before Treasury’s updated guidance. Counties investing in affordable housing include:[2]
In response to the negative economic impacts of the pandemic on communities, recipients have budgeted over $10 billion in SLFRF funds for more than 3,000 projects to support and expand the workforce. SLFRF projects have focused on helping impacted workers enter in-demand careers, with a particular focus on assisting people that have barriers to employment and preparing for industries of the future. This has helped prepare more Americans for the critical jobs being created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as well as the CHIPS and Science Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and American Rescue Plan. Counties investing in workers include:
Counties are investing in a variety of programs to support and nurture small businesses in their communities. Through September 30, governments had budgeted over $4 billion[3] for over 950 projects to support small businesses and small business development, complementing other Administration investments including the American Rescue Plan’s State Small Business Credit Initiative. Counties investing in small business include:
More than 1,400 governments report having budgeted over $11 billion for more than 4,900 projects addressing public health needs including COVID-19 testing, vaccinations, staffing, and outreach to underserved communities. These investments are also helping communities come out of the COVID-19 pandemic with the capacity to address both short- and long-term public health needs. Counties using fiscal recovery funds for projects addressing public health needs include:
SLFRF is allowing state, local, Tribal, and territorial governments to make key investments in infrastructure projects that respond to needs that were highlighted by the pandemic and that will support future economic growth. Overall, more than 2,500 governments have budgeted more than $20 billion for over 6,000 critical infrastructure projects that support expanded access to high-speed internet and clean water. SLFRF is helping counties to further supercharge the historic federal investments in infrastructure delivered by the Biden-Harris Administration through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and complementing the American Rescue Plan investment in expanded affordable highspeed internet access through Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund. Counties investing in infrastructure include:
[1] National Association of Counties, “Comprehensive Analysis of COVID-19’s Impact on County Finances and Implications for the U.S. Economy,” July 2020.
[2] The examples included throughout this factsheet are based on recipient reports, and their inclusion in this document does not constitute an explicit approval of these projects by Treasury.
[3] This amount reflects a $1.5 billion reduction from the last reporting by the State of California, which transferred a small business project to the state’s general fund.
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