American Rescue Plan: Helping families, businesses and local government recover from the pandemic
By Christina Proctor, April 18th, 2021
On March 11, the American Rescue Plan (ARP) became law. The plan is the most significant piece of legislation to help American families since The New Deal. It has overwhelming and bipartisan support from the American public, with 75% of Americans in support, including nearly 60% of Republicans. This package invests in the American people, not Wall Street billionaires.
Many aspects of the ARP, such as the $1,400 stimulus payments, rental assistance for individuals and funding for COVID-19 vaccines have been widely reported. A few other aspects of the legislation that have not received as much publicity are how the plan will help children, businesses and local governments.
ARP provides over $125 billion for schools to safely reopen for in-person learning, address learning loss and support students as they work to recover from the long-term impacts of the pandemic. Schools can use the money for education technology, mental health services, building improvements or summer and after-school programs. Getting our children back to in-person school safely is something we can all agree is critically important, and this legislation will provide the resources necessary to make that happen in a safe way.
In addition to the investment in our schools, other parts of the ARP legislation directly assist families with children. The income tax credits included in the ARP are estimated to cut childhood poverty in half by providing expanded child tax credits for working families. Additionally, the ARP includes funds for child nutrition programs, child care and headstart programs, as well as funds for community-based child abuse prevention programs to prevent, investigate, and treat child abuse and neglect.
Businesses are receiving direct relief in a few ways from the ARP. First, the ARP extended the popular Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which has been a lifeline to many small businesses in all industries. For bars and restaurants that have been hit especially hard by the pandemic, grant assistance is also available. The National Restaurant Association estimates that restaurants and bars have lost $250 billion during the pandemic. In addition to PPP loans that may be available, the grant program will provide $28.6 billion through the ARP’s Restaurant Revitalization Fund. Furthermore, the ARP provides additional funds for the Shuttered Venue Operators, as well as for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan to help small businesses and nonprofit organizations.
State and local revenues were hit hard by the pandemic. Business closures, declining sales and layoffs all reduced revenue, while simultaneously state and local governments incurred significant costs associated with their pandemic responses. Unlike the federal government, state and local governments generally have to balance their budgets and as a result would be forced to cut services to make up for the loss in revenue.
The ARP is providing $350 billion in state and local fiscal recovery funds. In our region, it’s estimated that Washington County will receive $98 million; Westmoreland County, $107 million; and Greene County, $7 million. Local municipalities will receive direct payments as well. This money must be used by the end of 2024 and can be used to stabilize government’s services and avoid layoffs, provide direct dollars to the hospitality, tourism and travel sector, invest in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure and make other local investments that will not only alleviate the harm caused by the pandemic but also set the region up for future success.
Washington County’s 2021 budget was adopted Dec. 28, 2020, before ARP was passed. It anticipates $58 million on hand after payment of all expenditures. The ARP recovery funds should considerably pad the county’s bottom line and will present the county with a nice problem to have. How will the commissioners invest in our community in a helpful and impactful way?
The health and economic effects of COVID-19 have been devastating. On top of the pandemic, a contentious election season and aftermath divided our country at a difficult time. Hopefully the American Rescue Plan, which will benefit all Americans regardless of politics, will help heal our health, economic and political wounds. We urge our elected officials to work together in a truly bipartisan way to create lasting benefit and move forward to rebuild our communities and crumbling infrastructure.