Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Alex Padilla (D-CA) announced on Oct. 20 that a bipartisan bill had passed the Senate. The bill is titled State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Fiscal Recovery, Infrastructure, and Disaster Relief Flexibility Act. It will give state and local governments a more significant deal of flexibility in the way unspent federal coronavirus funds may be used. The bill expands on previous legislation that allowed these funds to apply towards critical infrastructure and emergency disaster relief.
“In 2020, states and cities across the country delayed or canceled transportation improvement projects totaling about $12 billion,” said Sen. Cornyn in a press release. “This legislation puts decision-making power at the local level and gives these leaders more flexibility to invest in the most critical projects for their communities, whatever those might be. This will give communities in Texas and all other states the ability to use pandemic relief funding when and where it’s needed most. I want to thank Senators on both sides of the aisle who have worked with Senator Padilla and myself on this.”
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 was passed earlier this year, making water, wastewater, and broadband infrastructure eligible for funding through COVID-19 allocations. This new legislation expands on the definitions of eligible projects to include the financing of emergency disaster relief stemming from natural disasters. It also allows the use of funds for economic recovery following a natural disaster. Many states, including Texas and California, are currently dealing with significant fiscal impacts due to natural disasters in 2020 and 2021.
“Each region of the country has unique local challenges in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. This bill will provide state, local, tribal, and territorial governments the flexibility they need to better use federal resources to care for and serve their residents. This will ultimately help strengthen our response to the continued fight against COVID,” said Senator Padilla in a press release.
Cornyn and Padilla were joined by numerous Republican and Democrat Senators and dozens of state and local government entities in passing the bill. Notably, the legislation addresses funding to tribal governments, who have been partially barred from spending funds provided through the American Rescue Plan Act.
Senator Pat Sullivan (R-AK) said the new bill would clarify and streamline spending for American Native Corporations who serve tribal members.
The proposal sets certain restrictions to prevent wastefulness and inappropriate project funding. The greater of $10 million, or a total of no more than 30-percent of existing funding appropriated to these communities from ARPA can be reallocated towards these new purposes. The bill does not set spending mandates on recipients or reclaim any funds already spent.
The bill must be passed by the House of Representatives and signed into law before taking effect.
