HEROES Act and CARES Act funds distribution

Utah League of Cities and Towns sent this bulletin at 05/13/2020 04:49 PM MDT

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

HEROES Act- Information for local leaders to consider

Considerations Regarding 4th Stimulus

On Tuesday, May 12, the US House released a 4th stimulus bill called the HEROES (Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions) Act. The bill would allocate $3 trillion and provides about $1 trillion for state and local governments. We are pleased to see that 11% of those funds will go directly to all local governments. We believe it is imperative to assist local governments with the direct costs of COVID so that residents don't get hurt through the slashing of vital services.

WFRC (Wasatch Front Regional Council) summarizes the bill as a starting point for conversations with senate republicans and the White House. WFRC pointed out some of the bill’s key local government and transportation-related provisions:

$375B to local governments (with $125B to municipalities using a modified CDBG formula and $125B to counties based on population -- within the first 30 days of enactment, and $125B awarded one year after the date of enactment with a similar distribution formula).

The House is expected to vote on the HEROES Act as soon as tomorrow.

Cities Are Essential

The National League of Cities (NLC) has just launched a campaign to advocate for support of legislation providing funds directly to local governments called "Cities Are Essential." As part of this campaign, NLC is asking local leaders to reach out to their Washington delegation to lobby for funding directed specifically to municipalities. NLC has prepared a full tool box to help your city or town with resources and messaging consistent with the campaign. We encourage you as local leaders to evaluate the effort and, if you determine it is something you support, reach out to NLC and your congressional delegates directly.

Here is contact information for Utah's congressmen:

Congressman Rob Bishop

Contact: Paul Johnson

paul.johnson@mail.house.gov

Congressman Chris Stewart

Contact: Gary Webster

Gary.Webster@mail.house.gov

Congressman John Curtis

Contact: Lorie Fowlke

Lorie.Fowlke@mail.house.gov

Congressman Ben McAdams

Contact: Tiffany Clason

Tiffany.Clason@mail.house.gov

CARES Act Funding

Today, League staff and the Utah Association of Counties presented to the Legislature Executive Appropriations Committee on CARES Act distribution. We recommended all local government allocations be distributed through a population-based model. For the State’s $246 million available to local governments, ULCT recommended a direct distribution to each municipality based on population. With each allocation divided into three tranches to be distributed over the summer and early fall. The first allocation will be sent as early as June to each county and city and town outside of Salt Lake and Utah Counties to cover expenses covered under the CARES Act and Treasury guidance.

The remaining two tranches will also be distributed based on population, unless it is determined in the future that changes need to be made to the formula according to “hot spots” or other needs, recognizing that we should strive for highest and best use of limited dollars. Counties, cities, and towns will be expected to indemnify the State in order to receive their state-based allocation. They also will be required to repay any funds not used according to federal legislation and guidance.

Since Salt Lake and Utah counties received a direct allocation of CARES funding, cities and towns in those jurisdictions will receive reimbursement from their respective counties. Salt Lake and Utah counties have committed to put funds in a restricted account based on population to cover city and town COVID-19 expenses. These counties are still have working on a reimbursement model.

It was expressed by the Senate President, Speaker of the House, and other EAC committee members the expectation is that cities in Salt Lake and Utah counties will be treated in a similar manner to cities outside of those counties in regards to CARES fund allocations. ULCT will continue to work with Salt Lake and Utah counties on the distribution process.