The Baker-Polito Administration last week announced that it has published a new, interactive online tool that displays a breakdown by municipality of the $3.4 billion in direct federal aid awarded to local governments across Massachusetts by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). This direct aid to local governments is part of a total of $8.7 billion awarded to Massachusetts through the new Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, which was created by ARPA. This total also includes the $5.3 billion awarded directly to the Commonwealth, and last week Governor Baker outlined a plan to spend $2.8 billion of these funds on urgent priorities that support the communities hardest-hit by the pandemic.
These discretionary federal dollars are available to every local city, town, and county throughout the Commonwealth to support urgent municipal COVID-19 response efforts, replace lost revenue, stabilize households and businesses, and address the existing disparities that the pandemic exacerbated.
The new online resource consists of an interactive map that shows the breakdown of the $3.4 billion that is available to local cities, towns, and counties through the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund. The website also contains detailed information on funding allocations and the distribution process, as well as general information on the usage of these funds.
Last week, Gov. Charlie Baker outlined a plan to work with the Legislature to spend $2.8 billion of the Commonwealth’s discretionary funds on urgent priorities that support the communities hardest-hit by the pandemic. These significant federal resources complement other funding received by municipalities throughout the course of the public health emergency, such as the $502 million in Coronavirus Relief Fund dollars made available to municipal government entities earlier in the pandemic.