Louisville, other cities to have ‘broad flexibility’ to spend coronavirus money – WDRB

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) The U.S. Treasury Department is giving cities like Louisville and other local governments broad flexibility to spend their share of new coronavirus relief funds.

The federal guidance released Monday lays out the permitted uses for the American Rescue Plan funds, which will arrive in two installments starting this month and must be spent by the end of 2024.

Louisville Metro government had been expecting $434 million, but figures released by the Treasury Department lowered that amount to just over $388 million. The reason for the revision wasnt immediately clear.

Other Kentucky metropolitan cities will receive $156 million, while smaller cities will get $324.2 million, according to federal data. Kentucky's counties will get $867.7 million.

In all, more than $3.7 billion will go to state and local governments in Kentucky from legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Louisville, and signed into law by President Biden in March after clearing Congress on a nearly party line vote.

Yarmuth said in a statement Monday that the funds will "get government back in the business of helping the people who elect us. This is a massive step in the right direction."

According to the Treasury Department, the money can be spent on:

Public health response. The funds can be used for vaccination programs, COVID-19 testing, contact tracing and buying personal protective equipment, as well as monitoring for coronavirus variants. Public health agencies also could use the money to cover payroll and benefits for divisions dedicated to the pandemic response.

Negative economic impacts. Governments can use the money to aid people, businesses and government units affected by the pandemic, including loans to small businesses, direct aid to unemployed workers and benefits to families of COVID-19 victims.

Hardest hit communities. In some low-income and other areas, governments can invest the funds in childcare programs, tutoring, affordable housing developments, housing vouchers and violence prevention efforts.

Lost public revenue. Local governments can use money to replace revenue they believe they lost during the pandemic. There will be broad latitude to spend the funds.

Paying essential workers. Money can be spent to supplement the pay of essential workers, many of whom have not received compensation for the heightened risks they have faced and continue to face, the Treasury Departments guidance says. Those jobs include nursing home staff, truck drivers, childcare workers and grocery store workers, among others. The emphasis is on lower-income workers.

Infrastructure. Governments also can put funds into drinking water, sewer and broadband projects, with flexibility to choose those that are high priorities in their communities.

The Treasury Department also said how the money cant be used, barring it from broader infrastructure spending, deposits in pension funds, legal settlements and other uses, including to offset tax cuts. In Kentucky, Attorney General Daniel Cameron has joined a federal lawsuit seeking to have a judge block that provision.

This story may be updated.

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Louisville, other cities to have 'broad flexibility' to spend coronavirus money - WDRB