American Rescue Plan Act includes $633 billion for ‘IT-related’ funds:
Here’s how the money is being distributed

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American Rescue Plan Act includes $633 billion for ‘IT-related’ funds:Here’s how the money is being distributed
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President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan of 2021 (H.R. 1319) into law today – a $1.9 trillion plan that provides resources to wide areas of the broader economy, including substantial funds for IT-related initiatives. Is your organization ready to take advantage?

Few IT or procurement teams have the time and expertise needed to understand how the contents of thousands of pages of federal legislation equate to IT funding that might be available for their school, business, or government institution.

That’s where we come in. SHI has the resources and expertise to make navigating these distribution paths easy and efficient.

The SHI Grants Support Program can provide information on available grants, tailored funding reports, and consultations on current and future projects. In addition, SHI has partnered with Grants Office, a national leader in grants intelligence, to make it even easier for you to identify and organize grants and funding available to your organization.

Our Government Affairs team can assist you in tracking down the parameters and definitions of American Rescue Plan Act funding as outlined by the states, as well as coordinate with consultants throughout the country to monitor new and existing legislation.

To start, we dug through H.R. 1319 and pulled out below the IT-related provisions that will be available. Take a look.

1. State, local, tribal, and territorial support

$350 billion – U.S. Treasury to states, local governments, territories, and tribes

The law creates new state and local coronavirus relief funds – 60% would go to the states, and the other 40% would be allocated to localities – to be used for cybersecurity, cloud readiness, and other IT-related initiatives to respond and recover from the economic impact of the pandemic.

Local governments of every size would receive dedicated allotments. Funds are available until expended and will be awarded directly from the Treasury within 60 days of enactment. They will be subject to eligible uses, including to replace revenue lost, delayed, or decreased because of the pandemic.

  • States and the District of Columbia: $195.3 billion – every state receives at least $500 million
  • Local governments: $130.2 billion divided evenly between cities and counties
    • $65.1 billion to cities using a modified Community Development Block Grant formula
    • $45.57 billion for municipalities with populations of at least 50,000
    • $19.53 billion for municipalities with populations of less than 50,000; allocation is capped at 75% of the locality’s most recent budget as of Jan. 27, 2020
    • $65.1 billion to counties based on population
  • Territories: $4.5 billion
    • $2.25 billion divided equally
    • $2.25 billion based on population
  • Tribes: $20 billion to federally recognized tribal governments
    • $1 billion divided equally
    • $19 billion divided as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury

2. Education

$130 billion – U.S. Department of Education – Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER)

  • Grants will be made to state educational agencies (SEA), with 90% allocated to local educational agencies (LEA), to be made in accordance with the same terms and conditions applicable to funds provided in fiscal year 2021 for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSERF) of the Education Stabilization Fund

$35 billion – U.S. Department of Education – Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF)

  • Grants to institutions of higher education to be made in accordance with same terms and conditions applicable to funds provided in fiscal year 2021

$5 billion – U.S. Department of Education – Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund

  • Support educational programs and the learning needs of students significantly impacted by COVID-19, whether K-12, higher education, or early childhood education programs

$850 million – U.S. Department of Education – Bureau of Indian Education

  • Grants to Bureau of Indian Education-operated and funded elementary and secondary schools and tribal colleges or universities

$135 million – U.S. Department of Education – National Endowment for the Arts

  • 40% reserved for grants to state art agencies and regional art organizations
  • 60% reserved for direct grants that support organizations’ programming and general operating expenses

$189 million – U.S. Department of Education – National Endowment for the Humanities

  • 40% reserved for grants to state humanities councils
  • 60% reserved for direct grants that support humanities organizations’ programming and general operating expenses

$200 million – U.S. Department of Education – Library Service and Technology Act

  • As authorized under Subtitle B of the Museum and Library Services Act with a minimum allocation of $2,000,000 for each state

3. Health

$7.5 billion – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

  • Supplemental funds from the U.S. Treasury and the Secretary of HHS in coordination with the Director of Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for technical assistance, guidance, and support of vaccine distribution
  • Funding for information technology, data, and reporting enhancements, including improvements necessary to support sharing of data and enhancements to information systems

4. Veterans

$100 million – U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

  • Funding for investments in information technology systems to support the acceleration of VA’s supply chain modernization efforts

5. Transportation

$21.2 million – U.S. Department of Transportation – Railroad Retirement Board, Office of Inspector General (OIG)

  • Funding to supplement existing resources devoted to operations and improvements for the Information Technology Investment Initiatives of the Railroad Retirement Board

$20 billion – U.S. Department of Transportation – State Department of Transportations (DOTs)

Miscellaneous IT-related funding

$2 billion – U.S. Department of Labor to State labor departments

  • For states to support IT modernization of their state unemployment systems

$1 billion – Technology Management Fund (TMF)

  • Agency working capital to supplement IT modernization and cross-functional IT reforms

$650 million – Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)

$200 million – U.S. Digital Service

$150 million – General Services Administration (GSA) – Federal Citizen Services Fund

$7.17 billion – Federal Communication Commission (FCC) E-rate program – Emergency Connectivity Fund

  • To support broadband and IT services

$3 billion – U.S. Department of Commerce

$50 billion – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

To learn more about the IT-related funding within the American Rescue Plan Act and how it applies to your organization, contact SHI today.