The direct aid to state and local governments that the House is expected to send to President Biden later this week has minor changes added by the Senate over the weekend.
The Senate agreed by voice vote to rescind a $10 billion carve-out from the $350 billion for direct state and local government aid that would have been set aside for infrastructure in its initial draft.
With that vote, the allocation remains unchanged as part of the much larger $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that passed the Senate Saturday.
States and the District of Columbia would receive $195.3 billion or 60%, while local governments would get $130.2 billion, or the remaining 40%, which would be equally divided between cities and counties.
Each state is guaranteed a minimum allocation of $500 million with the remaining $169 billion based on the state share of total unemployed workers.
There still is no deadline for local governments or states to spend the money, with much it expected to be put to use quickly.
An additional $170 billion in federal emergency aid for education would be split between K through 12 schools, which would get $130 billion, and colleges and universities, which will receive $35 billion to implement online classes as well as public health protocols and provide emergency grants to students in need. The remaining $5 billion would go to governors for a hardest-hit education fund.
One tweak to the education aid came from a voice vote Senate amendment offered by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, to carve out $800 million to identify homeless children and youth. That money will provide them with services and assistance to attend school and receive related services.
The Senate also adopted a proposal by Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., to require local education agencies to develop and make available online a plan for a safe return to in-person instruction and continuity of services. Another education amendment that would have required schools to reopen five days a week was defeated by Democrats on a party-line vote.
The Senate increased by $200 million the money set aside for Amtrak as part of an allocation of $30.5 billion for transit agencies. There’s also $14 billion for airline payroll support, $8 billion for airports, and $3 billion for aviation manufacturers.
The direct aid to state and local governments has been under attack by some groups as too generous, but Friday’s jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that February employment in that sector is continuing to suffer. Local government education employment fell by 37,000 in February and in state government education was cut by 32,000.
Overall state government employment has declined by 487,000 since February 2020 and local government employment has dropped by 1.19 million over the same 12-month period.
“With this legislation, we can see a light at the end of the tunnel,” said Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, in a press statement following Saturday’s Senate vote.
“This bill will allow our cities to keep our residents healthy, provide essential services, keep our first responders on the job, and begin to unleash the full power of the American economy,” Fischer said.
At Monday’s opening press conference for the National League of Cities Congressional Conference, mayors noted that the previous direct federal aid was limited to cities with populations of 500,000 or more. That meant cities in Florida such as Miami were left out as well as every city in Georgia other than Atlanta.
NLC President Kathy Maness, a council member of Lexington, S.C. said not a single city in South Carolina received direct funding.
“We are one step closer to much needed direct relief for all cities, towns and villages,” NLC CEO and President Clarence Anthony said.
“Local governments have been clear,” Anthony said. “We don't just want to survive, we want to thrive. We don't just want to respond. We want to recover and rebuild.”
National Association of Counties Executive Director Matthew Chase said the direct aid to counties “recognizes counties’ vast responsibilities to care for our most vulnerable residents – our sick, unemployed, elderly and youth.”
“While counties face record demand for essential services, we have shed jobs at rates far outpacing the rest of the economy,” Chase said. “Even as the nation’s economy inches toward recovery, one in every 10 jobs yet to be recovered is from our local governments.”
Another federal program that’s part of the $1.9 trillion package contains $20 billion to states, localities, tribes, and territories to vaccinate residents. And the Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage (FMAP) would be increased to 100% for the administration of vaccines.
Elsewhere, another $30 billion would be targeted for the federal Disaster Relief Fund to ensure sufficient supplies and protective gear, and to provide 100% federal reimbursement for critical emergency response resources to states and local governments, including the deployment of the National Guard.
