Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds - Early Reporting Highlights

The US Department of the Treasury started disbursing State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to state, local, territorial, and Tribal government recipients on May 10, 2021. A subset of these recipients were required to submit initial reports on August 31, 2021. Treasury is processing these reports and will make them publicly available soon. In the meantime, highlights from the Recovery Plan Performance Reports submitted by recipients include both immediate and long-term plans across eligible use categories. Italicized portions are direct quotes from jurisdictions’ Recovery Plans. The COVID–19 public health emergency has underscored the importance of universally available, high-speed, reliable, and affordable broadband coverage. Millions of Americans rely on the internet to participate in critical activities such as schooling, healthcare, and work. Communities or households facing economic insecurity before the pandemic were less able to participate in remote work or education due to the inequities in access to reliable and affordable broadband infrastructure. Recognizing the need for such connectivity, some jurisdictions reported plans to invest in broadband infrastructure to expand service to currently unserved or underserved populations. See examples from Delaware, Colorado, and Virginia.