$188M Oakland COVID Aid Windfall

OAKLAND, CA — On Monday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the launch of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, established by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, to provide $350 billion in emergency funding for state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments.

Oakland will receive $188,081,700.

Alameda County is slated to receive $324,636,065 in funding from the federal program. The money is on top of the allocation the county received last year as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

According to the Treasury's Interim Final Rule, the money can only be used in the following ways:

1. Support public health expenditures related to COVID-19.
2. Address negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency. Examples include:

• Aid to unemployed workers
• Job training
• Assistance to households who face food, housing or other financial insecurities
• COVID-19 survivor benefits
• Rehiring of public sector staff and replenishing unemployment insurance trust funds (both to pre-pandemic levels)
• Loans, grants, in-kind assistance to small businesses to address financial challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigation
• Support local tourism, travel and hospitality
• Investments in technology infrastructure

3. Address disproportionate public health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hardest-hit communities, populations and households.
4. Replace lost public sector revenue.
5. Provide premium pay for essential workers.
6. Invest in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.

The funding is "a milestone in our country's recovery from the pandemic and its adjacent economic crisis," U.S. Secretary Janet L. Yellen said Monday in a released statement. "With this funding, communities hit hard by COVID-19 will able to return to a semblance of normalcy; they'll be able to rehire teachers, firefighters and other essential workers – and to help small businesses reopen safely."

As part of the program, the State of California will receive $27 billion to help with recovery efforts statewide.

— Written by Toni MacAllister/Patch with additional reporting by Bea Karnes