American Rescue Plan Act in Iowa: Big money, bigger needs

Make no mistake, federal dollars coming to Eastern Iowa through the American Rescue Plan Act represent a huge sum of money. But local needs are even greater than the influx of funds.

As part of the federal COVID-19 aid bill passed by Congress this year, state and local governments nationally are getting $350 billion meant to stabilize communities through the pandemic, with a special emphasis on addressing the systemic inequalities that have been exacerbated by the public health crisis.

Federal allocations in Linn County, Cedar Rapids, Johnson County and Iowa City total more than $100 million — more than the entire annual budget for many Iowa cities — to be dispersed in two rounds, one earlier this year and one expected in spring of 2022.

Over a few months of planning sessions, elected officials responsible for divvying up the money found requests quickly outpaced available resources. In Iowa City, for example, initial spending recommendations total up to $38 million, more than twice as much as the city’s allotment.

With spending priorities identified, we see a lot to like in local plans for spending the money. City and county governments in the corridor are working together to avoid duplication and bolster efficiency in administering aid. They have made significant efforts to gather a variety of public input. They are relying where possible on the local service providers who are already doing the work.

As city councils and boards of supervisors finalize their spending decisions, we caution them against backing too many projects that will need ongoing funding and personnel, which potentially would put them in a tough budget situation in future years.

We also urge them to act with urgency. The first half of funds from the federal government was released in May and there still are not firm plans for how to use much of it. The extensive public input processes have been laudable, but now it’s time to act and address what everyone involved agrees are urgent needs.

Linn County / Cedar Rapids

City and county officials held a news conference this past week to announce their collaborative application process for local entities seeking relief funds. For two governing bodies that have struggled to amicably work together in recent years, this is an encouraging development.

Local entities — including nonprofits, for-profits and cities that aren’t receiving their own federal payments — are eligible to submit proposals for funding. By combining efforts, the city and county allow applicants to go through a single process rather than having to go through two separate applications.

Linn County and Cedar Rapids are reserving significant portions of their funds for affordable housing and social services. That money will be targeted at helping elderly, minority and low-income residents secure stable housing. These are long-term needs in the community that have been compounded by the pandemic and last year’s derecho.

Cedar Rapids is giving a boost to two of its ongoing priorities — $1 million for the PATCH program to assist with home repairs from the derecho and an initial $5.1 million for flood control projects on the west side of the Cedar River.

Linn County also has $5.5 million for water and sewer infrastructure among its uses for the first round of money.

The deadline for local entities to apply for funds from Cedar Rapids and Linn County is Jan. 7, 2022.

Johnson County / Iowa City

One of the big-ticket items for Johnson County and Iowa City is an excluded workers fund, which would give direct cash payments to people who weren’t eligible for the federal government’s individual stimulus payments in 2020 and 2021, which would include undocumented immigrants.

Johnson County has discussed using $2 million for the fund and Iowa City is considering $1 million to $1.5 million. The program likely would be administered by the county, a smart collaboration.

While some local uses of American Rescue Plan Act funds stray from the basic intent of pandemic relief, we see the excluded workers fund as directly pursuant to that purpose. Excluded workers are contributing members of our local communities and it made no sense for the federal government to shut them out of the cash payments.

Iowa City’s other major priorities include support for minority-owned businesses, seed funding for social services and affordable housing, each with possible multimillion-dollar commitments.

In Johnson County, officials have tentatively voiced support for funding county-owned child care and affordable housing programs.

The Iowa City Council and Johnson County Board of Supervisors will hold a joint meeting on Nov. 16 to discuss their shared plans.

Windfalls like this don’t come around very often. The American Rescue Plan Act gives a rare opportunity to reshape the region’s future and we are pleased to see leaders moving in the right direction.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com