Provided under President Biden’s U.S. Relief Plan Act, the State and Local Financial Consolidation Fund (SLFRF) is critical in enabling county governments to stabilize their budgets, respond to the pandemic, and invest in their communities. continues to play its role. The SLFRF has provided more than $65 billion of her flexible aid to county governments, representing the first time in history that this level of direct federal assistance has been provided to every county nationwide. .

By mid-2020, more than 70% of counties reported cutting or deferring capital expenditures, and more than two-thirds reported cutting or deferring county services.[1] But with the help of the SLFRF and other government initiatives, this economic recovery is one of the strongest in modern history, with the largest job gains on record, 10 million new businesses created and real per capita GDP Absolutely – Black and Hispanic American Unemployment Near Record Highs.

This recovery is being driven in part by local governments, which continue to rapidly utilize SLFRF funds to meet community needs.based on Latest publicly reported data (This covers spending as of September 30, 2022), county governments are investing in public health, affordable housing, supporting workers, stimulating local economic growth through small businesses, and major infrastructure. We are using the Economic Recovery Fund to make transformational investments in areas such as Transformational Investments in Stabilization of government finances.

Investing in affordable housing

as part of Government efforts to expand access to affordable housing, the Treasury will use the SLFRF to invest in expanding housing supply or to complement other American Rescue Plan programs to help renters and homeowners, such as the Emergency Rent Assistance Program and the Homeowner Assistance Fund. County governments, in particular, have played a key role in implementing the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which has provided billions of dollars in rental assistance to community tenants. In July 2022, the Treasury will also introduce new flexibility to make it easier to support affordable housing investments, including increased flexibility to fully finance certain long-term affordable mortgages. and announced the tool.

By September 2022, SLFRF recipients will provide short-term support to nearly 1,800 housing affordability-related projects, including efforts to develop new permanent supplies142. It reports a budget of $100 million. This reflects a 15% increase in the number of projects since his last reporting period in July, when he secured the budget ahead of the Treasury Department’s updated guidance. Counties investing in affordable housing include:[2]

• Greenville County, South Carolina $10 million for eligible Census-track signature projects, including production of multifamily and single-family affordable housing units, preservation of current affordable housing units, and new infrastructure and new multifamily units has been assigned.
• Snohomish County, Washington Allocated more than $9 million to identify, plan and purchase multi-unit non-collective shelter buildings, including flexible spaces for services and emergency response for individuals experiencing homelessness.
• Tarrant County, Texas As the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for additional housing to serve the most vulnerable, we have invested approximately $34 million in expanding permanent supportive housing. The project included grants to housing-focused nonprofits and was facilitated through an application process operated by the Tarrant County Housing Finance Corporation.

support workers

In response to the negative economic impact of the pandemic on communities, recipients have budgeted over $10 billion in SLFRF funds for over 3,000 projects to support and expand the workforce. The SLFRF project focuses on helping affected workers enter in-demand careers, with a particular focus on helping those with barriers to employment and preparing them for the industries of the future. I’m putting This has prepared more Americans for the important jobs created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the American Rescue Plan. Counties investing in workers include:

• Arapahoe County, Colorado has allocated $5 million to provide short-term qualifications, job-based learning, in-service worker training, and support services to individuals who are unemployed or at work due to the pandemic. The Re-Train Arapahoe program offers up to $10,000 per person to provide training, certifications, and laptops to improve digital access and literacy.
• orange county, florida has budgeted more than $15 million to provide a comprehensive suite of new employment services to residents whose careers have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, providing them access to new career paths at equal or higher wages. I re-trained for
• Franklin County, Ohio It funds a pre-apprenticeship program that prepares former social services clients for middle-class jobs in the construction industry.
• Pima County, Arizona Allocated more than $5 million to the “Micropathways” program, which provides participants with financial assistance to access short-term programs that lead directly to in-demand jobs at family-sustaining wages. Support apprenticeships and other workforce programs focused on high-growth career areas.

Stimulating local economic growth through small businesses

The county invests in various programs to support and develop small businesses within the community. By September 30, the government had budgeted over $4 billion for her.[3] It complements other government investments, including the American Rescue Plan’s State Small Business Credit Initiative, for more than 950 projects that support small business and small business development. Counties investing in small businesses include:

• Cook County, Illinois Provide free technical assistance to small businesses to help them meet their unique needs, use new tools, and navigate resources to meet their business needs using the COVID-19 Recovery Lens has allocated more than $10 million for
• McHenry County, Illinois Contributed over $1 million to the Advance McHenry County Manufacturing Initiative. The initiative will provide manufacturers with customizable technical assistance and training solutions to help them bounce back from the pandemic, become more globally competitive and more resilient to future economic shocks. The program is a partnership with the county’s College System and Employee Network Commission and provides technical assistance in 10 categories aligned with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Baldridge Performance Excellence Framework.
• Lee County, Florida mandates $250,000 to help small businesses disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, including eligible census tracts and low- and middle-income populations with significantly reduced gross income and less access to credit. Targeted companies in designated areas. The project provides technical assistance, counseling or business planning services to provide individual and group training on business planning and improvement.
• Sacramento County, California Through outreach, technical assistance, training, and one-on-one consulting in a variety of languages, we are helping small businesses negatively impacted by COVID-19, using culturally appropriate methods to reach hard-to-reach businesses. We budgeted about $3 million to get involved.

Responding to Public Health Needs

More than 1,400 governments have budgeted more than $11 billion for more than 4,900 projects addressing public health needs, including COVID-19 testing, vaccination, staffing and outreach to underserved communities. is reported to have been introduced. These investments are also helping communities come out of his COVID-19 pandemic with the capacity to address short-term and long-term public health needs. Counties using Financial Consolidation Funds for projects that address public health needs include:

• Hidalgo County, Texas Budgeted $2 million for COVID-19 testing in the county. This also includes community members who are disproportionately affected. The test will allow county officials to efficiently track her COVID-19 case, update safety protocols, and mitigate the spread of the virus.
• Union County, New Jersey We spent approximately $4.5 million to support the county’s vaccination campaign, including staffing, equipment and supplies, facility costs, and mobile vaccine clinics. The county launched a campaign to reach out to the most vulnerable to spread awareness about vaccines, help communities find vaccinations, and expose misinformation about vaccines.

Make transformative investments in key infrastructure

The SLFRF allows state, local, tribal and territory governments to meet the needs highlighted by the pandemic and make major investments in infrastructure projects that will support future economic growth. Collectively, more than 2,500 governments have budgeted more than $20 billion for more than 6,000 critical infrastructure projects that support increased access to high-speed internet and clean water. The SLFRF will help further accelerate the historic federal infrastructure investments provided by the Biden Harris administration through the bipartisan infrastructure act, and will support American funding for the expansion of affordable high-speed Internet access through the Treasury Department’s Capital Projects Fund. It complements the Rescue Plan investment. Counties investing in infrastructure include:

• Box Elder County, Utah spent $1.5 million to provide engineering, permitting, and construction resources for a last-mile infrastructure investment to provide high-speed Internet service to underserved rural areas within the county. This helps stabilize access to remote education, health care, and economic opportunities. Privately funded expansion is not feasible due to remoteness and low population density.
• Carroll County, Maryland Budgeted $15 million to invest in broadband infrastructure in response to COVID-19. Increase access to the 12% of Carol’s homes and businesses that are not currently served by high-speed connectivity.
• Erie County, New York Allocated $34 million to meet broadband needs in underserved areas, improve service in underserved communities, and enable countywide broadband rollout. The fiber optic backbone is owned by the county but managed and controlled by ErieNet, a non-profit regional development company. ErieNet is open to any viable entity that uses or provides services to support broadband technologies and services.
• Rankin County, Mississippi Allocated $26 million to 45 projects to improve water protection, floodplain management, environmental remediation, and wetland restoration.

[1] County National Association, “A Comprehensive Analysis of the Impact of COVID-19 on County Finances and the Impact on the U.S. Economy,” July 2020.

^{[2] The examples contained throughout this fact sheet are based on recipient reports and their inclusion in this document does not constitute an express endorsement of these projects by the Ministry of Finance.}

^{[3] This amount reflects a $1.5 billion reduction from the last report by the State of California, which transferred small business projects to the state’s General Fund.}

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