US Treasury says state, local gov'ts budgeted over $173 billion in COVID aid
By David Lawder
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The U.S. Treasury said on Friday that nearly half of the $350 billion in COVID-19 assistance to state, local, tribal and territorial governments was budgeted as of March 31 for uses from lost revenue replacement to housing, broadband and job training.
Data released by Treasury on the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) showed these governments will continue to have substantial resources to make investments that will boost economic growth, health care, education and housing over the next two years.
Through March 31, state, local, territorial and tribal governments had reported around $173.6 billion in Treasury-approved uses from the SLFRF, which was launched in 2021 as part President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act approved by Democrats in Congress.
The Treasury said 99.99% of the $350 billion has been distributed to these jurisdictions, and they must budget all of the funds before Sept. 30, 2025, when the program expires.
The over 18,000 SLFRF recipient governments had reported $283 billion in lost revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic as of March 31. Thus far, they have budgeted nearly $100 billion to help replace this lost revenue to fund over $53,000 projects, the Treasury said.
«The State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds provided resources directly to communities across the country to help local leaders avoid cuts, address immediate needs, and support rapid, resilient, and equitable recovery,» Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement.
The funding helped avert a similar drag on economic recovery that came from state and local budget cuts that occurred during and after the 2008-2009 financial crisis recession, which stunted
Among
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