Treasury Dept. Launches $350 Billion Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery (CSLFR) Funds

On May 10, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the launch of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery (CSLFR) Funds established by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, to provide $350 billion in emergency funding for eligible state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments.

Treasury also released details on how these funds can be used to respond to acute pandemic response needs, fill revenue shortfalls among these governments, and support the communities and populations hardest-hit by the COVID-19 crisis.

Eligible state, territorial, metropolitan city, county, and Tribal governments may now request their allocation of CSLFR Funds through the Treasury Submission Portal.

These funds allow for a broad range of uses to address the disproportionate public health and economic impacts of the crisis on the hardest-hit communities, populations, and households.

A partial list of potential uses:

• Small Business Assistance: To support small businesses, helping them to address financial challenges caused by the pandemic and to make investments in COVID-19 prevention and mitigation tactics, as well as to provide technical assistance.
• Education Assistance: To address educational disparities through new or expanded early learning services, providing additional resources to high-poverty school districts, and offering educational services like tutoring or afterschool programs.
• Tourism, travel, and hospitality sector Assistance: To support industries that were particularly hard-hit by the COVID-19 emergency and are just now beginning to mend are eligible for support. Similarly impacted sectors within a local area are also eligible for support.

Equipped with this information, NAMM members are urged to engage with State and Local agencies as decisions are being made to allocate these and other resources.