How will the American Rescue Plan help communities?

President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 on March 11. Here’s an overview of how the package will help local communities:

• $350 billion for state and local relief: States, tribes, and territories will receive $220 billion as flexible block grants. Cities and counties will receive $120 billion in flexible block grants and $10 billion in formula infrastructure grants: $65 billion to counties, $45.5 to metropolitan cities, and $19.5 billion to towns with populations below 50,000 (CDBG rules will not apply).
  
• $170 billion for schools: K–12 schools will receive $123 billion through formula grants to state education agencies, and individual school districts must use at least 20 percent of funds to address learning loss. In addition, $40 billion will go to higher education institutions, $3 billion to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, $2.7 billion to private schools, and $7 billion to providing E-Rate connectivity grants to schools and public libraries via the FCC.
  
  
• $50 billion for small business relief largely administered by the SBA: This includes an additional $7.25 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, $15 billion for Economic Injury Disaster Loans, $28.6 billion in grants for food service businesses, and $10 billion for the State Small Business Credit Initiative.
  
  
• $40 billion in direct child care relief funding to help working parents as well as businesses in the childcare sector, which represents a significant proportion of Black-owned businesses.
  
  
• Additional allocations include $3 billion to EDA for economic adjustment assistance, with 25 percent set aside for tourism-related losses, and $510 million to FEMA.