Press Releases

Today, U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright (PA-08) welcomed the U.S. Treasury Department’s launch of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, which allocate $330 million for the counties and larger cities that comprise the Eighth Congressional District to keep public employees on payroll and maintain essential services. These funds were authorized by the American Rescue Plan that Rep. Cartwright helped pass in March. Entities can now apply for these funds through the Treasury website.

“We count on our local governments for essential services like police, fire, emergency response, garbage collection, street cleaning and so much more,” said Rep. Cartwright. “Local officials and the frontline heroes who do these jobs worked hard to maintain these services as best they could so that they were there for us amid the uncertainty of last year. I’m proud that we are able to support them through the American Rescue Plan.”

Relief from the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund for Counties and Cities in PA-08 (Via Treasury.gov)

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is eligible for $7.29 billion from the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund. Millions more will also be distributed to the state government to pass on to boroughs, townships and smaller cities; the Treasury Department expects to provide further guidance on these distributions in the coming days.

The Treasury Department says local governments will receive funds in two tranches, with 50 percent provided beginning in May 2021 and the balance delivered approximately 12 months later. States that have experienced a net increase in the unemployment rate of more than 2 percentage points from February 2020 to the latest available data as of the date of certification will receive their full allocation of funds in a single payment; other states will receive funds in two equal tranches. Governments of U.S. territories will receive a single payment. Tribal governments will receive two payments, with the first payment available in May and the second payment, based on employment data, to be delivered in June 2021.

The Treasury Department says funds may be used to:

• Support public health expenditures, by, for example, funding COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral health care and certain public health and safety staff
• Address negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency, including economic harms to workers, households, small businesses, impacted industries and the public sector
• Replace lost public sector revenue, using this funding to provide government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue experienced due to the pandemic
• Provide premium pay for essential workers, offering additional support to those who have and will bear the greatest health risks because of their service in critical infrastructure sectors
• Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure, making necessary investments to improve access to clean drinking water, support vital wastewater and stormwater infrastructure and to expand access to broadband internet

Within these overall categories, recipients have broad flexibility to decide how best to use this funding to meet the needs of their communities.