Replenish, Replace, Repair: How Illinois is Using its ARPA Aid

Kass, Amanda; Rocco, Philip; Hawley, Alexander

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117103 Copy

Description

Title

Replenish, Replace, Repair: How Illinois is Using its ARPA Aid

Author(s)

• Kass, Amanda
• Rocco, Philip
• Hawley, Alexander

Issue Date

2023-01-25

Keyword(s)

funds, government, illinois. state.revenue.treasury.spending.aid.fund.budget.coronavirus.

Abstract

In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments across the United States found themselves grappling with a public health crisis while simultaneously experiencing sharp declines in revenue collections. For the State of Illinois, this situation was especially challenging as it had little in reserve funds and billions in backlogged bills. Illinois’ fiscal challenges had been building for years, and so the fiscal effects of the pandemic compounded the state’s financial predicament. In this article, we focus on the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) program, which set aside $350 billion in flexible federal aid to states, counties, cities, Tribal governments, territories, and the District of Columbia. Under that program, Illinois’ state government was allocated $8.1 billion in federal aid that state lawmakers have a relatively broad level of discretion over how to spend.1 To put that $8.1 billion in context, Illinois’ total appropriations in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019—the last full fiscal year before the pandemic—were about $106 billion, of which $37 billion were General Funds appropriation

Publisher

Institute of Government and Public Affairs

Series/Report Name or Number

Replenish, Replace, Repair: How Illinois is Using its ARPA Aid

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

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