Celebrating Two Years of the American Rescue Plan Act

March 11 marked the two-year anniversary of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the game-changing legislation for local communities in their recovery from the COVID19 pandemic and beyond.

Thanks to ARPA, $65.1 billion was put directly in the hands of local leaders to spend in ways they knew were best for their communities. City leaders have used their funds to both address the immediate crisis of the pandemic and truly transform their cities – setting up shelters to address homelessness, putting stakes in the ground on broadband expansion projects, funding afterschool programming for the communities’ kids, and much more.

In March of 2021, cities of all sizes across the country were in the midst of an unprecedented crisis. As we approached one full year of living with the COVID-19 pandemic, municipalities needed help keeping budgets afloat, maintaining critical services and helping residents impacted by the pandemic.

ways the local relief funds included in ARPA helped communities rebuild and recover.

As President of the National League of Cities, I have heard from many of my fellow local leaders about the incredible impacts these investments have had on residents’ lives as communities recover from the pandemic. Amid those stories, there is a resounding consensus – this historic legislation has been a lifeline for cities, towns and villages who saw their revenues and budgets decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic and all the challenges that came with it.

In part, the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program was so successful because it pointed funds directly to local governments. On the ground and closest to the people in their cities, local leaders know their residents’ unique needs and priorities better than anyone. Thanks to the flexibility of ARPA funding, communities were able to address these needs quickly and efficiently, guided strongly by community input.

Together with NLC, local leaders raised their voices loudly and clearly, asking for a federal partner as they worked hard to combat this crisis on the ground. And in March 2021, Congress and the Biden administration responded – and the American Rescue Plan Act became a reality.

As we recognize the two-year anniversary of the passage of this unprecedented legislation, we have an opportunity to look back at the transformative

Federal relief to local governments has proven to be the right policy at the right time and has made an enormous difference for municipalities and our entire nation.

USING ARPA FUNDS IN TACOMA, WA

This historic legislation provided $65.1 billion in direct aid to every city, town, or village across the country – including my city of Tacoma, WA. As mayor of Tacoma, I knew that prioritizing  these funds to boost our affordable  housing and homelessness programs  was one of many critically important  investments we  could make for our  community with  these funds. Direct  access to ARPA  dollars allowed  us to make huge  investments in  our residents  that we wouldn’t  have been able to  support otherwise.

To help address  our local  homelessness  crisis, we were  able to partner with  neighboring jurisdictions and use our  funds to purchase an old hotel property,  which we rehabilitated into a temporary shelter over the course of the pandemic  and will soon transition to permanent  supportive housing. This building –  funded directly by our ARPA resources  – will provide at least  120 individuals with  immediate supportive  housing that will help  transition them from  homelessness.

In Tacoma – one of  the fastest-growing  regions of the country  – we already had our  Affordable Housing  Action Plan in place to  help us preserve our  housing stock, build  more missing middle  housing, and support  residents staying in  their homes. This inflow of support  provided by ARPA allowed us to fund  and implement these already-proven strategies in our community and  jumpstart our impact more quickly, for  the residents who needed it most.

Arpa Investments Across The Country

Tacoma is far from the only community  that benefi tted from ARPA relief funds.  Across the country, from small cities in  the Northwest to rural communities in  the Southeast, these investments have  helped meet residents’ needs and built  more thriving communities along the  way. For example:

• Housing: Virginia Beach, VA  allocated $3.7 million in SLFRF  to establish 65 emergency  housing vouchers, in addition to  the 35 vouchers provided by the  Department of Housing and Urban  Development (HUD).

• Workforce: San Jose, CA allocated  nearly $3.8 million in SLFRF  to provide adults living in highpoverty and high-unemployment

TWO YEARS OF ARPA (CONT)

neighborhoods with access to  comprehensive job training for work  in public parks.

• Youth and Family Support:  Colorado Springs, CO allocated  $652,000 to support afterschool and summertime out-ofschool programs for underserved  populations.

• Water Infrastructure: Lake Oswego,  OR allocated $1.4 million of their  ARPA funds to improve street  drainage on Lakeview Boulevard.  The city allocated another $2 million  to support power generation at the  city’s water system. By funding the  Lakeview project through SLFRF,  the city will cushion its stormwater  fund, which is the most underresourced city fund according to  city staff.

These are just a handful of the ways  communities have allocated their  dollars to meet the unique needs of  their cities. You can learn more about  how cities and counties are using these  funds in our Local Government ARPA  Investment Tracker found at www.nlc. org/resource.

WHAT’S NEXT?

If your community has not yet obligated  all of your SLFRF funds, there is no time  to waste. An expense for every SLFRF  dollar must be obligated by Dec. 31,  2024.

Remember, these dollars are meant to  be transformative, and this one-time  transfer of resources from the federal  government to local governments  cannot go unused. As local leaders,  this is our opportunity to show Congress  how responsibly and effectively we