Letter to the Honorable Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury - Meuser Seeks Clarification For State & Local Government Infrastructure Investments With American Rescue Plan Funds

Letter

The American Rescue Plan Act allocated $350 billion for the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal
Recovery Funds with the aim of helping state, local, and tribal governments make critical
investments to address their needs and accelerate our nation's recovery from the COVID-19
pandemic. Among these pressing needs is transportation infrastructure and community
revitalization. As you write guidance for the use of these funds, we urge you to clarify that these funds may be used for investment in transportation infrastructure, including to fulfill the nonfederal match requirements for such projects, and revitalization.
The text of the American Rescue Plan Act currently limits these funds to four eligible uses:
(1) To respond to the public health emergency or its negative economic impact,
(2) To respond to workers performing essential work during the public health emergency,
(3) For the provision of government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue due to
COVID-19 relative to revenue collected in the most recent full fiscal year, and
(4) To make necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure.
As the law is written, it does not necessarily preclude investments in transportation infrastructure and revitalization, but further guidance is needed to provide certainty for state, local, and tribal
governments as they determine how to allocate these limited funds to various priorities in their
communities.
Since passage of this legislation in March, we have been in regular correspondence with state and local officials as they develop plans for how to utilize these funds most effectively. Infrastructure investments remain a predominant need in many of the communities we represent, and these critical investments are integral to economic recovery and community revitalization. We ask that you clarify that the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds may be used for transportation investments and to fulfill non-federal match requirements in federal infrastructure funding programs.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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