Except with respect to certain law enforcement and adjudication activities, no funds may be used to maintain or establish a computer network unless such network blocks the viewing, downloading, and exchanging of pornography. Guidance on eligible uses of Fund disbursements by governments is available below. May Fund payments be provided to non-profits for distribution to individuals in need of financial assistance, such as rent relief? No. regulatory information on FederalRegister.gov with the objective of Recipients may use Fund payments for any expenses eligible under section 601(d) of the Social Security Act outlined in the Guidance. We are developing a Disaster Relief Fund to assist the . This category includes premium pay to a broad range of essential workers whose work requires regular in-person interactions including, among others: Premium pay that would increase a worker's total pay above 150 percent of the greater of the state or county average annual wage requires specific justification. documents in the last year, 36 Unlike with the Coronavirus Relief Funds tribal governments received last year, tribes also have several years to spend FRF. PINT - Plasma In Need for Transfusion , a non-profit organization and online platform helping COVID-19 patients in need of convalescent plasma find and match with donors, quicker and more efficiently. 13. Finally, the CARES Act provides that payments from the Fund may only be used to cover costs that were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on December 31, 2021 (the covered period). A unit of local government eligible for receipt of direct payment includes a county, municipality, town, township, village, parish, borough, or other unit of general government below the State level with a population that exceeds 500,000. May a State impose restrictions on transfers of funds to local governments? As with all uses of payments from the Fund, the use of payments to acquire or improve property is limited to that which is necessary due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. 52. The requirement that expenditures be incurred due to the public health emergency means that expenditures must be used for actions taken to respond to the public health emergency. To what extent may a government use Fund payments to support the operations of private hospitals? The Treasury Department made clear during the consultations that tribes that fail to confirm or amend their 2019 employment numbers by June 21 will not receive a payment from the employment allocation. As of June 17, 2020, all payments based on employment and expenditure data, other than payment of amounts allocated to Alaska Native corporations, have been made. These include: Although tribes have broad discretion within the above categories of infrastructure, the Treasury Department clarified in the Interim Final Rule that general infrastructure spending (roads, energy, etc.) Tenants who receive public assistance or are very low income - $25,760 annual income for an individual or $53,000 for a family of four - can access a lawyer for free during eviction proceedings. on Click "accept" below to confirm that you have read and understand this notice. Payments from the fund may only be used to cover such hazard pay. Hazard pay means additional pay for performing hazardous duty or work involving physical hardship, in each case that is related to COVID-19. COVID-19. For example, the cost of a good that must be delivered in December in order to be available for use in January could be covered using payments from the Fund. Reimbursement to donors for donated items or services. You will need to be able to document your claim. If governments use Fund payments as described in the Guidance to establish a loan program to support businesses, would those funds be considered gross income taxable to a business receiving the loan under the Code? executive order. FRF may be used to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency or its negative economic impacts. Coronavirus (COVID-19) has had visible impact on impoverished communities via lack of medical equipment / supplies and loss of basic resources, including food and water. Are Fund payments considered federal financial assistance for purposes of the Single Audit Act? The first payment will include 1) an amount in respect of the $1 billion allocation that is to be divided equally among eligible tribal governments, and 2) the tribal government's pro rata share of the allocation based on enrollment. 47. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe is planning how to use the expected funds. County Board Meetings Marie. Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Flooding (DR-4384) Incident Period: May 5, 2018 - May 28, 2018 Major Disaster Declaration declared on August 17, 2018 Please contact your responsible Holland & Knight lawyer or the authors of this alert for timely advice. DISCLAIMER: Please note that the situation surrounding COVID-19 is evolving and that the subject matter discussed in these publications may change on a daily basis. Document Drafting Handbook . The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act allocated $20 billion in Fiscal Recovery Funds (FRF) to tribes. Please purchase a subscription to continue reading. Yes, costs to address increase in solid waste as a result of the public health emergency, such as relates to the disposal of used personal protective equipment, would be an eligible expenditure. Overview. Increased workers compensation cost to the government due to the COVID-19 public health emergency incurred during the period beginning March 1, 2020, and ending December 31, 2021, is an eligible expense. The guidance published below is unchanged from the last version of the guidance dated September 2, 2020,[1] If a Fund recipient avails itself of the presumption in accordance with the previous paragraph with respect to a school, the recipient may not also cover the costs of additional re-opening aid to that school other than those associated with the following, in each case for the purpose of addressing COVID-19: Across all levels of government, the presumption is limited to $500 per student, e.g., if a school is funded by a state and a local government, the presumption claimed by each recipient must add up to no more than $500. What is meant by a small business, and is the Guidance intended to refer only to expenditures to cover administrative expenses of such a grant program? documents in the last year, 35 The relevant unit of government should maintain documentation of the substantially dedicated conclusion with respect to its employees. Funds may not be used to fill shortfalls in government revenue to cover expenditures that would not otherwise qualify under the statute. First, we estimate the state will receive about $9.5 billion from the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) . Payments from the Fund are not administered as part of a traditional grant program and the provisions of the Uniform Guidance, 2 CFR part 200, that are applicable to indirect costs do not apply. As stated in the Guidance, a cost meets this requirement if either (a) the cost cannot lawfully be funded using a line item, allotment, or allocation within that budget or (b) the cost is for a substantially different use from any expected use of funds in such a line item, allotment, or allocation. 38. May recipients use Fund payments to remarket the recipient's convention facilities and tourism industry? Oneida Nation General Manager Mark Powless has announced the Nation's plan for membership distribution of received federal relief funds and tribal contributions. are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID19); were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020 (the date of enactment of the CARES Act) for the State or government; and. As discussed in previous Treasury guidance on use of the Fund, a recipient's small business assistance program should be tailored to assist those businesses in need of such assistance. Expenses to facilitate distance learning, including technological improvements, in connection with school closings to enable compliance with COVID-19 precautions. The Treasury Department's guidance previewed several reporting requirements that tribes will need to satisfy as they spend FRF. 7501-7507) and the related provisions of the Uniform Guidance, 2 CFR 200.303 regarding internal controls, 200.330 through 200.332 regarding subrecipient monitoring and management, and subpart F regarding audit requirements. The CARES Act also requires that payments be used only to cover costs that were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020. Through the Coronavirus Relief Fund, the CARES Act provided payments to state, local, and tribal governments navigating the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. and services, go to Such expenditures would only be permissible if they are necessary for the public health emergency. ), available at https://www.congress.gov/116/plaws/publ94/PLAW-116publ94.pdf. 3. 41. For example, a county may transfer funds to a city, town, or school district within the county and a county or city may transfer funds to its State, provided that the transfer qualifies as a necessary expenditure incurred due to the public health emergency and meets the other criteria of section 601(d) of the Social Security Act outlined in the Guidance. . 116-260 (Dec. 27, 2020), Budget, Financial Reporting, Planning and Performance, Financial Markets, Financial Institutions, and Fiscal Service, Treasury Coupon-Issue and Corporate Bond Yield Curve, Treasury International Capital (TIC) System, Kline-Miller Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014, Taxpayers Will See Improved Service This Filing Season Thanks to Inflation Reduction Act, Disparities in the Benefits of Tax Expenditures by Race and Ethnicity, Racial Differences in Economic Security: Non-Housing Assets, Treasury Sanctions People Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuse Against Vladimir Kara-Murza, Treasury Announces Approval of Up to $890.7 Million to Support Small Business Success Across Three States, Treasury Sanctions CJNG-Run Timeshare Fraud Network. To the extent that the costs incurred by a state unemployment insurance fund are incurred due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, a State may use Fund payments to make payments to its respective state unemployment insurance fund, separate and apart from such State's obligation to the unemployment insurance fund as an employer. Territories and Tribal governments navigating the impact of the . Furthermore, no government which receives payments from the Fund may discriminate against a health care entity on the basis that the entity does not provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions. Please see the Guidance for a discussion of what is meant by an expense that was not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020. Sunny. Coronavirus Relief Fund Guidance for State, Territorial, Local, and Tribal Governments; Coronavirus Relief Fund FAQ's; COVID-19 Response Supply Reimbursement Grant. Appearing on the tribe's June 18 Facebook Live update, Powless informed viewers that all members 18 and older will receive $500 from tribal contributions, another $3,000 . Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. On that date, the Treasury Department also released several key documents that address how FRF can be used. Your donation to this fund will help stop the spread of the virus, including the highly contagious Omicron variant, to protect us all. Hazard pay means additional pay for performing hazardous duty or work involving physical hardship, in each case that is related to COVID-19. Assistance to households to support internet access or digital literacy. Stephen T. Milligan, Deputy Assistant General Counsel (Banking & Finance), 202-622-4051. documents in the last year, 26 Does the National Environmental Policy Act. Data sources and the distribution methodology for units of local government. May Fund payments be used for COVID-19 public health emergency recovery planning? COVID-19 Resource Hub; WA Equity Relief Fund for Nonprofits; News & Insights. For example, a per capita payment to residents of a particular jurisdiction without an assessment of individual need would not be an appropriate use of payments from the Fund. 1. are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19); 2. were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020 (the date of enactment of the CARES Act) for the State or government; and, 3. were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on December 31, 2021.[1]. The Colville Business Council took swift action to mandate the vaccine this spring, when they passed a resolution that allowed only for medical exemptions. The introduction of the guidance and frequently asked questions have been modified to reflect this publication in the Federal Register; the guidance and frequently asked questions have been revised throughout to reflect that the end date of the period during which eligible expenses may be incurred has been extended to December 31, 2021;[3] Fund payments may be used only for expenditures necessary to address the current COVID-19 public health emergency. WASHINGTON A federal judge on Monday ordered Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to distribute $679 million in emergency COVID-19 relief funds to Native American tribes that should have gotten it months ago, and he chided the agency for causing "irreparable harm" with its delays. access for current print subscribers. documents in the last year, 853 This result provides equitable treatment to governments that, for example, instead of having a few employees who are substantially dedicated to the public health emergency, have many employees who have a minority of their time dedicated to the public health emergency. documents in the last year, 11 2021-00827 Filed 1-14-21; 8:45 am], updated on 4:15 PM on Friday, March 3, 2023, updated on 8:45 AM on Friday, March 3, 2023, 105 documents 6. Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds The American Rescue Plan provides $350 billion in emergency funding for eligible state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments to respond to the COVID-19 emergency and bring back jobs. Information contained in this alert is for the general education and knowledge of our readers. for better understanding how a document is structured but documents in the last year. A vaccination site on the. The Public Inspection page may also Counts are subject to sampling, reprocessing and revision (up or down) throughout the day. Email: admin@pintnetwork.com. The Guidance says that funding can be used to meet payroll expenses for public safety, public health, health care, human services, and similar employees whose services are substantially dedicated to mitigating or responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency. 1503 & 1507. Yes, to the extent that the restrictions facilitate the State's compliance with the requirements set forth in section 601(d) of the Social Security Act outlined in the Guidance and other applicable requirements such as the Single Audit Act, discussed below. In March, Congress approved a temporary 6.2 percentage point increase in the federal government's share of cost for state Medicaid . Yes, expenses associated with contact tracing are eligible.Start Printed Page 4189. The following answers to frequently asked questions supplement Treasury's Coronavirus Relief Fund Guidance for State, Territorial, Local, and Tribal Governments. Yes. Of particular relevance for the Fund, payments may not be expended for an abortion, for health benefits coveragemeaning a package of services covered by a managed health care provider or organization pursuant to a contract or other arrangementthat includes coverage of abortion, for the creation of a human embryo or embryos for research purposes, or for research in which a human embryo is destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death greater than that allowed for research on fetuses in utero under 45 CFR 46.204(b) and 42 U.S.C. For example, a county recipient is not required to transfer funds to smaller cities within the county's borders. In particular, a government must (i) determine that it is not able to meet the need arising from the public health emergency in a cost-effective manner by leasing property or equipment or by improving property already owned and (ii) maintain documentation to support this determination. Such a grant would be analogous to a loan provided by the Fund recipient itself that incorporates similar loan forgiveness provisions. 57. staff at nursing homes, hospitals and home-care settings, childcare workers, educators and school staff. Are there prohibitions on combining a transaction supported with Fund payments with other CARES Act funding or COVID-19 relief Federal funding? As previous guidance has stated, payments from the Fund may be used to meet the non-federal matching requirements for Stafford Act assistance to the extent such matching requirements entail COVID-19-related costs that otherwise satisfy the Fund's eligibility criteria and the Stafford Act. Permissible uses include: Delivering assistance to workers and families, including aid to unemployed workers, as well as aid to households facing food, housing or financial insecurity. 1. Investing in housing and neighborhoods, such as affordable housing development, housing vouchers and housing navigation assistance to facilitate moves to neighborhoods with high economic opportunity. 254 through 256). Expenses to improve telework capabilities for public employees to enable compliance with COVID-19 public health precautions. Putting this requirement together with the other provisions discussed above, section 601(d) may be summarized as providing that a State, local, or tribal government may use payments from the Fund only to cover previously unbudgeted costs of necessary expenditures incurred due to the COVID-19 public health emergency during the covered period. If a State determines that expanding meat processing capacity, including by paying overtime to USDA meat inspectors, is a necessary expense incurred due to the public health emergency, such as if increased capacity is necessary to allow farmers and processors to donate meat to food banks, then such expenses are eligible expenses, provided that the expenses satisfy the other requirements set forth in section 601(d) of the Social Security Act outlined in the Guidance. The funding supports states, tribes, and territories with coastal and marine fishery . In addition, pursuant to section 5001(b) of Division A of the CARES Act, payments from the Fund are subject to the requirements contained in the Further Appropriations Act of 2020 (Pub. documents in the last year, 467 49. May a unit of local government receiving a Fund payment transfer funds to another unit of government? The US Congress passed and President Biden signed the Act, which included an. For the first payment, the Treasury Department will use self-certified enrollment numbers submitted to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in April 2021. 2. The U.S. Department of the Treasury has recently announced how it will allocate these funds among tribes and provided guidance on how these funds can be used. Such an expense would include, for example, expenses incurred to comply with the Single Audit Act and reporting and recordkeeping requirements imposed by the Office of Inspector General. The PEAF provides funding to states (which includes the District of Columbia), tribes administering a TANF program, and five U.S. territories[1] to assist needy families impacted by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Fund payments may not be used for expenses that have been or will be reimbursed by another federal program (including, for example, the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund administered by the Department of Education). The direct recipient of payments from the Fund is ultimately responsible for compliance with this limitation on use of payments from the Fund. Yes, fund recipients may use payments from the Fund to upgrade public health infrastructure, such as providing individuals and families access to running water to help reduce the further spread of the virus. For example, a State may expend Fund payments on necessary administrative expenses incurred with respect to a new grant program established to disburse amounts received from the Fund. documents in the last year, 282 that agencies use to create their documents. The first payments will be distributed on October 4, 2021 and the second payments will be distributed on January 7th, 2022. Eligible local governments were required to submit the certification required by the CARES Act to Treasury by 11:59 pm Eastern Daylight Time on Friday, April 17 in order to receive payment. These are Covid-19@oneidanation.org and (920) 869-4481. Event details. Are Fund payments subject to other requirements of the Uniform Guidance? Yes, payments from the Fund may be used to meet the non-federal matching requirements for Stafford Act assistance, including FEMA's Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) and EMPG Supplemental programs, to the extent such matching requirements entail COVID-19-related costs that otherwise satisfy the Fund's eligibility criteria and the Stafford Act. offers a preview of documents scheduled to appear in the next day's For example, a transfer from a county to a constituent city would not be permissible if the funds were intended to be used simply to fill shortfalls in government revenue to cover expenditures that would not otherwise qualify as an eligible expenditure. 40. Section 601(f)(2) of the Social Security Act provides that if the Treasury OIG determines that a recipient of payments from the Fund has failed to comply with the use of funds provisions of section 601(d), the amount equal to the amount of funds used in violation of such subsection shall be booked as a debt of such entity owed to the federal government.