On March 11, 2021 President Joe Biden signed into law American Rescue Plan Act. The Act delivers $350 billion to state, local, and Tribal governments across the country to support their response to and recovery from the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Cook County received more than $1 billion through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The money can be spent  for the following:

• Replace lost public sector revenue, using this funding to provide government services up to the amount of revenue lost due to the pandemic
• Respond to the far-reaching public health and negative economic impacts of the pandemic, by supporting the health of communities, and helping households, small businesses, impacted industries, nonprofits, and the public sector recover from economic impacts
• Provide premium pay for essential workers, offering additional support to those who have and will bear the greatest health risks because of their service in critical sectors
• Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure, making necessary investments to improve access to clean drinking water, to support vital wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, and to expand affordable access to broadband internet

If you’d like a deeper dive into these categories, please visit here.

On January 13th 2022, I voted with my colleagues to approve the County’s initial ARPA spending plan. This initial plan allocates nearly $300 million to small business assistance, healthy communities, violence prevention, digital equity and infrastructure improvements (including electric vehicle infrastructure) in Fiscal Year 2022. Below, you can scroll through the plans highlights. For a deeper dive, visit here.