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The Voice of the

Commonwealth's Counties

American Rescue Plan Act of 2021

The American Rescue Plan Act received final approval in Congress on March 10 and was signed into law by President Biden on March 11. The $1.9 trillion relief package is wide-ranging, touching on policy areas from vaccination to broadband in its comprehensive approach to COVID-19 response and recovery. VACo appreciates the direct, flexible assistance to counties contained in the legislation; VACo had advocated for such assistance as an important element of Virginia’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and is grateful to Virginia’s Senators and members of Congress for their work in securing these important resources. VACo also extends its appreciation to its members for their advocacy efforts.
  • Recovery Plan Template — this document is required to be published annually by states, territories, and metropolitan cities and counties with more than 250,000 residents
  • Questions posed by Government Finance Officers Association, National Association of State Treasurers, National Association of State Budget Officers, and National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers  Click here for the questions

EDA invites eligible applicants to form regional coalitions to apply for funding to implement a collection of three to eight distinct but related projects in their region, in coordination with industry and community partners, and aligned around a holistic vision to build and scale a strategic industry cluster.  Eligible applicants include a “State, county, city, or other political subdivision of a State, including a special purpose unit of a State or local government engaged in economic or infrastructure development activities, or a consortium of political subdivisions”

The Good Jobs Challenge is designed to support the needs of an applicant’s identified regional workforce system through a single integrated award. EDA will make awards to either the System Lead Entity of a regional workforce system or the Backbone Organization of a sectoral partnership as the lead applicant.  Eligible applicants include a “State, county, city, or other political subdivision of a State, including a special purpose unit of a State or local government engaged in economic or infrastructure development activities, or a consortium of political subdivisions.”

EDA’s American Rescue Plan Economic Adjustment Assistance program makes $500 million in Economic Adjustment Assistance grants available to American communities.  The Economic Adjustment Assistance program is EDA’s most flexible program, and grants made under this program will help hundreds of communities across the nation plan, build, innovate, and put people back to work through construction or non-construction projects designed to meet local needs.  A wide range of technical, planning, workforce development, entrepreneurship, and public works and infrastructure projects are eligible for funding under this program.  As part of the $300 million Coal Communities Commitment, EDA will allocate at least $200 million of the Economic Adjustment Assistance funding to support coal communities.  Eligible applicants include a “State, county, city, or other political subdivision of a State, including a special purpose unit of a State or local government engaged in economic or infrastructure development activities, or a consortium of political subdivisions.”

This program is designed to support the needs of Tribal Governments and Indigenous communities. EDA will support these important partners to develop and execute economic development projects that they need to recover from the pandemic and build economies for the future.

Through the Travel, Tourism & Outdoor Recreation program, EDA is focused on accelerating the recovery of communities that rely on the travel, tourism and outdoor recreation sectors. $750 million of EDA’s American Rescue Plan funds are allocated to support the following efforts:

State Tourism Grants: $510 million in non-competitive awards to help states quickly invest in marketing, infrastructure, workforce and other projects to rejuvenate safe leisure, business and international travel.

Competitive Grants: $240 million to help communities that have been hardest hit by challenges facing the travel, tourism and outdoor recreation sectors to invest in infrastructure, workforce or other projects to support the recovery of the industry and economic resilience of the community in the future.  Eligible applicants for competitive grants include a “State, county, city, or other political subdivision of a State, including a special purpose unit of a State or local government engaged in economic or infrastructure development activities, or a consortium of political subdivisions.”

Through the Statewide Planning, Research & Networks program, EDA is supporting states in planning efforts by allocating $59 million for Statewide Planning Grants.  In addition, the program will allocate $31 million for Research and Networks Grants to invest in research that assesses the effectiveness of EDA’s programs, and provides support for stakeholder communities around key EDA initiatives.  Eligible applicants for Research and Networks Grants include a “State, county, city, or other political subdivision of a State, including a special purpose unit of a State or local government engaged in economic or infrastructure development activities, or a consortium of political subdivisions.”