Early Trends in How Local Governments are Using Fiscal Recovery Funds to Recover 

from the Pandemic and Invest in the Future

Treasury’s latest quarterly Project and Expenditure reporting data covers how the largest 

governments used State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) resources from March 3, 

2021 through December 31, 2021. These large recipients include all states and territories, and 

cities and counties with a population over 250,000 or an award over $10 million, and Tribal 

governments with an award over $30 million.

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Treasury has also received and is reviewing additional quarterly reporting data that covers 

January 1 through March 31, 2022, and the first annual reporting from smaller SLFRF recipients, 

including smaller cities and counties. This data will provide a more comprehensive and up-todate view of the program’s impact, including additional metrics about the programs and 

investments underway and information from smaller governments. Treasury looks forward to 

publishing this information after completing data reviews.

The reporting data through December 31, 2021 illustrate how state, local, and Tribal 

governments have used funds not only to respond to the pandemic – using SLFRF to build on 

and complement dedicated funding in the American Rescue Plan for public health response and 

economic aid to small businesses, workers, and families – but also to make smart investments 

that will boost growth and opportunity for years to come. These data provide an early look at the 

significant investments governments are making in affordable housing, workforce development,

and public safety; moving forward, the Administration has urged governments to continue to 

invest SLFRF funds in these areas to meet some of the most pressing needs facing their 

communities. 

Cities and counties across the country have especially led the way with innovative projects to 

tackle some of the toughest challenges facing American families. In all, governments reported 

over 14,000 projects using these funds, underscoring the breadth of the program’s impact in 

communities; Treasury has also released project highlights that illustrate the types of projects

underway in many communities. During 2022, in the months after this data covers, states, 

localities, and Tribal governments have continued to plan investments, budget funds, and begin 

projects that will make a difference for their residents.

1. By December 2021, the largest cities and counties had budgeted 83 percent of available 

funds, rapidly putting funds to work on pressing issues.

Local governments moved quickly to provide relief from the pandemic, put their economies on 

the path to recovery, and make transformative investments in their communities. By the end of 

1 Due to privacy considerations, Treasury does not release reporting information from individual Tribal 

governments. Tribally-reported information is included in aggregate statistics about the program (e.g., the total 

number of governments using funds for a specific eligible use, total projects reported, etc.). All examples of Tribal 

government projects included in this document are sourced from publicly available information.
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2021, large cities and counties2 had formally budgeted 83 percent of their available funds, often 

following extensive community engagement to develop spending plans informed by the needs 

and views of residents. During 2022, in the months after this data covers, Treasury anticipates 

that communities have continued to move forward, budgeting funds and increasing this 

percentage further. 

In part, this speed reflected the urgent needs facing cities throughout the pandemic. A national 

survey of mayors in late 2020, before the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) passed, found that 

70 percent anticipated making dramatic service cuts, with 45 percent expecting cuts in school 

budgets. But the rapid progress by cities and counties in putting these funds to work also reflects 

the abundant opportunities for SLFRF to support stronger, more resilient, and more equitable 

local economies as the country rebuilds from the pandemic.

Local governments have focused their work on some of the most pressing challenges facing 

communities, with the most funds budgeted, respectively, for: 1) replacing lost revenue to 

prevent cuts to public services, 2) fighting COVID-19, 3) keeping families housed and 

expanding access to affordable housing, 4) aiding small businesses, and 5) supporting workers 

through premium pay for essential workers and job training. These categories match up with 

many testimonials from mayors sharing how they are using their funds. 

While data submitted by recipients shows a higher share of funds budgeted by localities than by 

states, this finding may reflect conservatism in states’ reporting. For example, some states 

reported no funds budgeted although their legislature had passed appropriations legislation, 

perhaps due to other steps needed to formalize or certify the funds as budgeted. Additionally, 

state budgeting data is particularly fluid given the timing of this reporting, which covers through 

December 31. With most state legislative sessions occurring in the winter and spring, many 

states have likely had additional appropriations since December 31. Tracking by the Center on 

Budget and Policy Priorities through March 23, 2022, for example, found that states and the 

District of Columbia had appropriated 80 percent of funds available.

2. The 2021 data demonstrated that SLFRF prevented devastating cuts to public services 

like police, fire, emergency medical services, and education.

A major use of SLFRF has been maintaining and rebuilding crucial public services by replacing 

revenue lost due to the pandemic; without SLFRF, many states, cities, counties, and Tribes 

across the country would have needed to raise taxes or cut critical services in order to balance 

their budgets. Before ARP’s passage, survey data found that 90 percent of cities were 

experiencing revenue declines and that half of states were imposing hiring freezes or furloughing 

workers. For example, in January 2021, Hawaii’s governor announced plans to furlough over 

10,000 state employees and cut the state’s budget by $600 million. Less than a week after the 

ARP was passed, the governor announced that these cuts were off the table. 

2 Cities and counties with populations over 250,000 were required to report adopted budget for each project.
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Through SLFRF, over 800 governments have been able to replace their lost revenue. Reporting 

shows that they used these funds for police and fire departments; hospitals; emergency medical 

services; roads, sidewalks, and infrastructure; education; and myriad other government services.

Governments are also using these funds to rebuild the public sector workforce, rehiring workers 

cut during the crisis and making sure there are enough staff to operate ambulances, keep libraries 

open, and maintain streets and water mains. For example, Dekalb, Illinois has been able to rehire 

thirteen police officers, two firefighter-paramedics, and seven water and street maintenance 

workers, and Denver was able to rehire 265 city staff positions left vacant because of pandemicrelated cuts. While this represents meaningful progress, state and local government employment 

remains well below its pre-pandemic level and Treasury encourages recipients to use this 

opportunity to bring back public sector workers. 

Finally, cities across the country – including Savannah, Cleveland, St. Petersburg, Fremont, 

Anaheim, Omaha, Greenville, Rochester, Minnesota, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania – have used 

these funds to keep police officers on payroll and maintain police department operations, a major 

investment in maintaining public safety.

3. State, local, and Tribal governments budgeted $11.7 billion by December 2021 to help 

families keep their homes and expand access to affordable housing.

Governments have not only used SLFRF to weather the pandemic’s harms – but have also made

major investments to tackle some of the long-standing challenges that the pandemic exposed and 

exacerbated. Access to stable, quality, affordable housing stands out as one such challenge. 

Researchers estimates that the United States faces a shortage of 3.8 million housing units, driving 

prices up and straining families’ finances. The pandemic dramatically underscored this 

challenge, as millions of households fell behind on their rent.

In response, over 350 state, local, and Tribal governments had committed $11.7 billion in SLFRF 

funds by the end of 2021 to meet immediate and long-term housing needs, including helping 

families that fell behind on their rent, mortgage, or utilities, providing safe housing for

individuals experiencing homelessness, and building more affordable housing to address the root 

cause of housing insecurity. Treasury anticipates that these investments have continued to grow 

since the end of 2021 and notes that these data may be underestimates due to conservatism in 

reporting.

Some jurisdictions – like New Jersey, Washington, Oregon, and St. Louis County – are using 

SLFRF to expand rental assistance programs to meet local needs. Others are continuing and 

building on eviction prevention systems first developed through the Emergency Rental 

Assistance (ERA) program. For example, New York City, Milwaukee County, Indianapolis, and 

many other jurisdictions are using funds to expand or guarantee access to legal counsel or tenant 

advocates for households in eviction proceedings. ERA rental assistance and eviction prevention 
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programs helped prevent an eviction crisis over the last year. SLFRF can continue these systems 

going forward and expand their services to help families find and keep quality, stable housing.

States, cities, counties, and Tribal governments across the country are also making major 

investments in building and preserving affordable housing – and Treasury urges governments to 

deepen their investments in this area. Reflecting the urgency of this challenge, jurisdictions 

across all regions and sizes, from the largest states to small cities and rural communities, have 

invested in this area; this includes the State of California, Washington, DC, Nashville, Denver, 

Maricopa County, Arizona, St. Louis, Kansas City, Baton Rouge, Bernalillo County, New 

Mexico, Morgantown, West Virginia, Manchester, New Hampshire, and Lewis and Clark 

County, Montana.

Governments are pursuing innovative strategies to develop new housing, piloting new 

approaches with SLFRF. Utah will create incentives for municipalities to redevelop and rezone 

current vacant land to allow higher density housing as a permitted use. Tribes across Indian 

Country have invested in equitably meeting housing needs, including developing housing 

designed to serve elders and addressing the needs of multi-generational households. Polk 

County, Iowa is converting an underutilized hotel to 40 units of affordable housing, and Palm 

Beach County, Florida will develop 19 acres of county-owned land into over 100 units for rent 

and sale. Finally, Minneapolis is piloting low-barrier single-room occupancy housing as part of 

the city’s wide-ranging strategy to increase the availability of housing and create a pathway out 

of homelessness and into long-term stable housing.

4. During 2021, SLFRF supported workers by boosting pay, bringing more workers into 

the labor market, and expanding training for in-demand careers.

Governments have used SLFRF to expand the workforce in the current strong labor market, 

increasing the number of workers available to fill crucial positions and helping jobs offer 

competitive wages and working conditions to attract talent. 

First, SLFRF boosted pay for essential workers, a critical step to retaining current workers and 

attracting new staff. Over 740,000 essential workers – like school bus drivers, nurses, 

paramedics, and police officers – have received bonus pay through SLFRF recognizing their 

critical work during the pandemic. Many governments have used SLFRF to offer retention 

bonuses to thank their current staff or recruitment bonuses to help fill critical positions.

Second, SLFRF has helped train workers for well paid, in-demand careers. Over 120 state, local, 

and Tribal governments are investing in job training programs, preparing youth for good jobs, 

helping workers advance in their careers, and training unemployed workers for growing fields. 

For example, the State of Maine will invest in training and stackable credential attainment to 

help incumbent frontline healthcare workers attain the credentials to move into the next rung on 

their career pathway. Numerous governments, including Illinois, Providence, Rhode Island, 
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Syracuse, New York, and Memphis, Tennessee, are providing summer jobs for youth, offering 

key work experience, training, and productive summer opportunities.

Finally, many governments have used SLFRF to expand access to childcare, helping families –

and especially mothers – return to the workforce. For example, Utica, New York will help a 

childcare provider offer night and weekend hours, while Portland, Maine will offer start-up 

grants for new childcare providers. 

Especially as local governments prepare to receive their second tranche of funding this 

summer, Treasury urges governments to use ARP funds to confront the most pressing 

challenges that our economy and communities face:

• expanding the workforce and providing competitive wages,

• expanding access to affordable housing, and

• keeping our families and communities safe.

Key Investments through Dec 31,2021 for State, Local, and Tribal Governments*

Category

Reported 

Funds 

Budgeted 

Number of 

Governments 

Pursuing

Number of 

Projects 

Reported

Housing: Emergency Aid, 

Affordable Housing, Homelessness $11.7 billion 353 847

Infrastructure: Water, Sewer, and 

Broadband $10.4 billion 534 1,636

COVID-19 Public Health 

Response** $5.0 billion 690 2,011

Worker Support: Unemployment 

Aid, Job Training, Essential Worker 

Premium Pay

$5.0 billion 488 718

Small Business Assistance $4.5 billion 275 450

Childcare and Education $3.4 billion 124 258

*As with all data provided, these numbers reflect recipient reporting on investments through 

December 31, 2021; data do not capture investments since that date and may be 

underestimates due to conservatism in reporting. Categories reflect eligible uses, outside of 

replacing lost revenue, available to all state, local, and Tribal governments. Some uses of 

funds are only available to states and territories given their responsibilities. Note: Certain data

in this table was updated on June 22, 2022 to reflect additional data analysis by Treasury; data 

continues to cover the period through December 31, 2021.

**Includes vaccinations, testing, contact tracing, PPE, prevention in congregate facilities, 

medical expenses, and other public health measures; does not include capital investments in 

public facilities