TREASURY DEPARTMENT RELEASES FUNDING DETAILS FOR STATE AND LOCAL RELIEF FUNDS

The American Rescue Plan Act is landmark legislation that will provide significant resources with which to address the social determinants of health and to reinforce the public health workforce.

The mere fact that there are additional resources being provided doesn’t mean that we will see improvements in the field. That will only happen if our elected and appointed officials that will control these funds use them in evidence-based ways that have a high return on investment. Whether that will happen in Arizona remains to be seen.

The Joint Legislative Budget Committee made some estimates based on the finding formula. They estimate that Arizona will receive about $12B.

State government will receive $4.8B between now and December 31, 2024 (much of the funding will be available to the next governor as Governor Ducey will be gone in January 2023).

The $4.8B (spread out over 4 years) can be used “… to respond to COVID-19 or its negative economic impacts, premium pay to essential workers, lost revenues, and broadband infrastructure.”

On Monday, the U.S. Treasury Department released details on how states and cities can spend the money. Here’s is a link to the Treasury Department’s guidance and their proposed interim final rule.  The Treasury Department began accepting applications this week from states and cities for $350B in relief funds. There are 4 broad categories that Treasury says the money can be used for:

  • Address systemic public health and economic challenges that have contributed to the unequal impact of the pandemic.

  • Support urgent COVID-19 response efforts to continue to decrease spread of the virus and bring the pandemic under control.

  • Replace lost revenue for eligible state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments to strengthen support for vital public services and help retain jobs; and

  • Support immediate economic stabilization for households and businesses.

Specifically, Treasury’s new interim rules say states and cities can use the money to:

  • Support public health expenditures, (for example, funding COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral healthcare, 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; and

  • Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure, making necessary investments to improve access to clean drinking water, support vital wastewater and storm water infrastructure, and to expand access to broadband internet.

Key documents from the Treasury Department’s Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds webpage include:

Editorial Note: County health departments and even the ADHS have developed state and county health improvement plans that outline resource and intervention priorities to reduce health disparities. We urge the ADHS to USE those county and state health improvement plans to guide decision-making as they apply for these funds.

We sincerely hope that Director Christ will (over the next 19 months) prioritize Rescue Act resources based on the needs identified in county health improvement plans.

It would be a huge missed opportunity if the ADHS were to allocate Rescue Act funds to reward obedient stakeholders or political allies of the governor rather than resource the objectives outlined in the state and county health improvement plans.

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