From Our Friends at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

Dear Friend,

Since the passage of the American Rescue Plan — a historic piece of legislation that is helping struggling families and state and local governments weather the COVID-19 public health and economic crisis — state and local advocates like you have been making the case for states to use their funds to reach those most in need and conducting outreach so people have all the information they need to receive the maximum benefits for which they are eligible.

Now, the U.S. Treasury Department has finally released its long-anticipated guidance on how states, cities, counties, U.S. territories, and tribal nations can and can’t spend their American Rescue Plan flexible funds (known as “Fiscal Recovery Funds”).

With the guidance now out, we invite you to join us for a webinar Tuesday, May 25, from 2:30-3:30 p.m. Eastern. During the webinar, we'll discuss the implications of the Treasury guidance for advocacy work at the state and local level, including principles to guide how the funds are used and suggested priorities for the funds, such as:

• Restoring funding cuts for schools and other services;
• Building a robust outreach operation to help people access available federal, state, and local aid;
• Boosting incomes for essential workers and people with limited incomes;
• Investing in people to improve public safety;
• Helping children catch up on unfinished learning; and
• Investing in equity-enhancing broadband, clean water, and infrastructure projects.

Please register and share this webinar invite with your allies and partners!

To find out more about the U.S. Treasury Department’s guidance before the webinar, you can check out our newest memo. We encourage you to also visit federalscoop.org, where you can easily find all the American Rescue Plan implementation resources we’ve shared.

We look forward to having you join us Tuesday!

Onward,
Deborah, Louisa, Xiomara, and the CBPP team