American Rescue Act Update (April 15, 2021)
The American Rescue Plan Act provides $350 billion in emergency funding for state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency, or its negative economic impacts, including by providing assistance to households, small businesses, and nonprofits, or aid to impacted industries, such as tourism, travel, and hospitality; respond to workers performing essential work during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing premium pay to eligible workers of the State, territorial or Tribal government performing essential work or by providing grants to eligible employers that have eligible worker; provide government services, to the extent COVID-19 caused a reduction of revenues collected in the most recent full fiscal year of the State, territorial, or Tribal government; or make necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure.
State, local and Tribal governments across America have been under an unprecedented strain in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. At the height of the economic fallout in 2020, public sector employment fell by around 1.4 million jobs, including layoffs of 1 million educators, compared to around 750,000 job losses during the Great Recession. As a result, communities have faced untenable choices, between laying off educators, firefighters, and other frontline workers or failing to provide services that communities rely on.
The Recovery Fund provides funding for critical projects, and includes:
- $195 billion for states
- $130 billion for local governments, including counties, cities, and smaller local governments
- $20 billion for tribal governments
- $4.5 billion for territories
The American Rescue Plan will provide needed relief to state, local, and Tribal governments to enable them to continue to support the public health response and lay the foundation for a strong and equitable economic recovery. In addition to helping these governments address the revenue losses they have experienced as a result of the crisis, it will help them cover the costs incurred due responding to the public health emergency and provide support for a recovery – including through assistance to households, small businesses and nonprofits, and aid to impacted industries. It will also provide resources for state, local, and Tribal governments to provide premium pay to essential workers and make necessary investments in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure.
Additional guidance is under development and will be available on this page in the near future.
PRE-AWARD REQUIREMENTS (UPDATED 4/15/2021)
Prior to the formal launch of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Program, those entities that are eligible to receive a direct payment of funds from Treasury under the program should prepare certain information in advance as outlined below. By undertaking these preparatory steps, eligible entities will be better positioned to receive payments from Treasury in a more timely manner after the program is launched.
Direct payment from Treasury will be made to:
- States (defined to include the District of Columbia)
- Territories
- Tribal governments
- Counties
- Metropolitan cities
All Federal financial assistance recipients must have a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number and an active registration with the System for Award Management (SAM) database at SAM.gov. As a result, all eligible entities receiving direct payment from Treasury under the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Program will need a DUNS number and an active SAM registration to receive payment. The DUNS and SAM registration process may take several business days to complete. Therefore, Treasury recommends that eligible entities begin those registration processes if they have not already completed them.
As soon as possible, these governments should take the steps below.
- Ensure the entity has a valid DUNS number.A DUNS number is a unique nine-character number used to identify an organization and is issued by Dun & Bradstreet. The federal government uses the DUNS number to track how federal money is allocated. A DUNS number is required prior to registering with the SAM database, which is outlined below. Registering for a DUNS number is free of charge.
If an entity does not have a valid DUNS number, please visit https://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/ or call 1-866-705-5711 to begin the registration process. - Ensure the entity has an active SAM registration. SAM is the official government-wide database to register with in order to do business with the U.S. government. All Federal financial assistance recipients must register on SAM.gov and renew their SAM registration annually to maintain an active status to be eligible to receive Federal financial assistance. There is no charge to register or maintain your entity SAM registration.
If an entity does not have an active SAM registration, please visit, govto begin the entity registration or renewal process. Please note that SAM registration can take up to three weeks; delay in registering in SAM could impact timely payment of funds.
Click here for a quick overview for SAM registration - Gather the entity’s payment information,including:
- Entity Identification Number (EIN), name, and contact information
- Name and title of an authorized representative of the entity
- Financial institution information (e.g., routing and account number, financial institution name and contact information)
