WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — President Joe Biden Monday is expected to announce the launch of more than $350 billion in state and local fiscal recovery funds established by his sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 pandemic rescue package.
"Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds provide eligible state, local, territorial, and Tribal
governments with a substantial infusion of resources to meet pandemic response needs and rebuild a
stronger, more equitable economy as the country recovers," the White House said in a fact sheet. "Within the categories of eligible uses, recipients have broad flexibility to decide how best to use this funding to meet the needs of their communities."
Communities can use the funds for the following: support public health expenditures, address economic impacts caused by the pandemic, replace lost revenue and provide premium pay for essential workers.
Biden is scheduled to speak at 1:15 p.m. ET. NewsNation will livestream his remarks in the player above.
Biden's expected announcement comes as COVID-19 cases decline and states and localities ease restrictions with businesses adding jobs for four straight months, according to the Labor Department. Still, the unemployment rate ticked up to 6.1% from 6% in March.
Biden addressed the disappointing jobs report last week saying, “we knew this wouldn’t be a sprint, it would be a marathon.”
The jobs report, the first since the White House’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 pandemic rescue package was approved in March, will probably do little to change expectations that the economy entered the second quarter with strong momentum and was on track for its best performance this year in almost four decades.
Biden defended his sweeping COVID-19 pandemic rescue package and said that this was just the first step in a big economic recovery.
“Some critics said we didn’t need the American Rescue Plan — that this economy would just heal itself,” Biden said. “Today’s report just underscores, in my view, how vital the actions we’re taking are…we’re still digging out of an economic collapse.”
Biden plans to spend another $4 trillion on education and childcare, middle- and low-income families, infrastructure and jobs. The Federal Reserve has signaled it intends to leave its benchmark interest rate near zero and continue to pump money into the economy.
Republican lawmakers in Congress so far have balked at the price tag of both the families plan and infrastructure package. Republicans last month unveiled a public works proposal with a much smaller price tag and a narrower definition of infrastructure than Biden’s. The price of the Republican proposal came in at $568 billion over five years, compared to the $2.3 trillion that Biden has called for spending over eight years.
Republicans have not issued a plan in response to the American Families Plan.
State Funding
County Funding
Metro Funding
Reuters contributed to this report.
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