American Rescue Plan

The Biden administration will begin distributing the $350 billion, provided by the American Rescue Plan, to states and local governments this month. The Treasury Department said that states that were hit the hardest economically by the pandemic would be the first to receive the funds. The states that have a net increase in unemployment of more than 2 percentage points since February 2020 will get their total funds right away and local governments will generally receive half of the money this month and the rest next year. The Treasury Department has also issued guidance to states explaining how it will determine if the money is being used properly. If the funds have been used to offset tax cuts, the Treasury would require those funds to be paid back to the Department.