Resources & Updates
Local Relief Frequently Asked Questions
Supporting Local Businesses with America’s Rescue Plan
Five Principles for ARP Implementation
How to Access Your Benefits Under the American Rescue Plan
NLC Fact Sheets
- How to Spend Coronavirus State & Local Recovery Funds
- How to Use ARPA to Access Coronavirus State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds
- How to Meet Reporting Requirements for Coronavirus State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds
- How States Can Allocate Coronavirus State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to Local Governments
- How to Use Coronavirus State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to Ease Budget Shortfalls
Below, you will find a brief explainations of the key provisions of the American Rescue Plan.
Affordable Housing
What the ARP Provides:
- $100 million in housing counseling
- $5 billion for assistance for people experiencing homelessness
- $5 billion for emergency housing vouchers
- $100 million for rural rental assistance
- $9.9 billion for mortgage and utility assistance
- Additional funding for fair housing organizations
Broadband
What the ARP Provides:
- Funds provided directly to municipalities can be used for expenses related to broadband.
- Additionally, the ARP provides more than $7 billion to the Federal Communications Commission to help schools and libraries ensure that students can fully participate in remote learning.
Emergency Rental Assistance
What the ARP Provides:
- $21.55 billion in Emergency Rental Assistance to augment $25 billion in funding provided to states, localities, and territories in December 2020 relief package
Local Investments
What the ARP Provides:
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Local, direct fiscal relief funds from the ARP can be used for local economic recovery purposes, including:
- Assistance to households, small businesses and nonprofits
- Assistance to hard-hit industries like tourism, travel, and hospitality
- Infrastructure investment
Mental Health and Substance Abuse
What the ARP Provides:
- $3.88 billion to expand on the investments made in the year-end 2020 package to increase availability of treatment
Small Business Relief
What the ARP Provides:
- $10 billion for the SSBCI to help states support small businesses as they recover from the pandemic
- $15 billion in new funding for Targeted EIDL grants
- $28.6 billion in direct relief to the restaurant industry
- $1.25 billion for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program
- PPP eligibility is expanded, as is the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC)
Transit
What the ARP Provides:
- $30.4 billion of relief funding to transit agencies to prevent layoffs of transit workers and prevent severe cuts to transit services (provided as formula grants based on operating costs)
- Additional funding to support ongoing transit construction projects
- Additional funding to preserve intercity bus service
Unemployment
What the ARP Provides:
- Extension of the federal unemployment insurance bump that is added to all unemployment benefits at the current law amount of $300
- Extensions of program that expands unemployment eligibility for the self-employed, gig workers, freelancers and others in non-traditional employment
- Makes additional weeks of benefits available to workers who exhaust their state benefits
Water and Wastewater
What the ARP Provides:
- Funds provided directly to municipalities can be used for water and wastewater expenses.
- Additionally, the law includes $4.5 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and $500 million for low-income water assistance.