Proceed with caution: US local governments and the American Rescue Plan

ABSTRACT

Will a legacy of fiscal stress limit local governments’ willingness to make equity-focused investments even in the context of the relative surplus that American Rescue Plan funds provide for local governments in the US after COVID-19? Focus groups with local officials show the desire to address basic infrastructure investments (water and sewer) is primary, and concerns over recurring expenditure responsibilities, administrative burden and rising citizen expectations cause them to proceed with caution. However, the flexibility and size of ARPA funds make more progressive investments possible.

KEYWORDS:

• Local government
• COVID-19
• equity
• American Rescue Plan
• infrastructure

Acknowledgments

Thanks to our local government association partners, ICMA, NYSCMA, and CCAO in supporting focus group and survey data collection.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Partial funding for this research was provided by USDA Hatch Multistate Project W5001. 2022-23-183, and W4001 #2021-22-131, the Mui Ho Center for Cities and USDA NIFA grant #2021-67023-34437.