access for current print subscribers. Once the reduction in revenue is identified, tribes can use FRF with broad latitude to support government services. The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to recipients of the funding available under section 601(a) of the Social Security Act, as added by section 5001 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). In addition, pursuant to section 5001(b) of Division A of the CARES Act, payments from the Fund are subject to the requirements contained in the Further Appropriations Act of 2020 (Pub. If a government determines that the issuance of TANs is necessary due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, the government may expend payments from the Fund on the interest expense payable on TANs by the borrower and unbudgeted administrative and transactional costs, such as necessary payments to advisors and underwriters, associated with the issuance of the TANs. Enclosed please find an application form and instructions. As a general matter, providing assistance to recipients to enable them to meet property tax requirements would not be an eligible use of funds, but exceptions may be made in the case of assistance designed to prevent foreclosures. Your donation to this fund will help stop the spread of the virus, including the highly contagious Omicron variant, to protect us all. COVID-19-related expenses of public hospitals, clinics, and similar facilities. Treasury's Office of Inspector General has provided the following guidance in its FAQ no. To facilitate prompt distribution of Title V funds, the CARES Act authorized Treasury to make direct payments to local governments with populations in excess of 500,000, in amounts equal to 45% of the local government's per capita share of the statewide allocation. Home Hopi Tribe CARES Act Committee Hopi Tribe COVID Emergency Assistance PP. As reflected in the Guidance and FAQs, Treasury has not interpreted this provision to limit eligible costs to those that are incremental increases above amounts previously budgeted. A program that is aimed at assisting small businesses with the costs of business interruption caused by required closures should be tailored to assist those businesses in need of such assistance. 57. Fedwire receiptsTreasury can accept Fedwire payments for the return of funds to Treasury. In addition, guardians or payees . 43. Is the cost of this expanded workers compensation coverage eligible? Tuesday, March 21, 2023 . Upon further consideration and informed by an understanding of State, local, and tribal government practices, Treasury is clarifying that for a cost to be considered to have been incurred, performance or delivery must occur during the covered period but payment of funds need not be made during that time (though it is generally expected that this will take place within 90 days of a cost being incurred). The Interim Final Rule prescribes the methodology to be used, and compares actual revenue to anticipated revenue in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Sault Ste. Are States permitted to use Coronavirus Relief Fund payments to satisfy non-federal matching requirements under the Stafford Act, including lost wages assistance authorized by the Presidential Memorandum on Authorizing the Other Needs Assistance Program for Major Disaster Declarations Related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (August 8, 2020)? Treasury has revised the guidance on CRF to provide that a cost associated with a necessary expenditure incurred due to the public health emergency shall be considered to have been incurred by December 31, 2022, if the recipient has incurred an obligation with respect to such cost by December 31, 2022. documents in the last year, 35 Share with Us. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Such a grant would be analogous to a loan provided by the Fund recipient itself that incorporates similar loan forgiveness provisions. $1.99 A centralized phone number and email have been activated where all questions about the Nation's precautionary measures, that are not health-related, can be directed. A State's obligation to FEMA for making an improper payment to an individual under the lost wages assistance program is not incurred due to the public health emergency and, therefore, payments made pursuant to this obligation would not be an eligible use of the Fund. May a State impose restrictions on transfers of funds to local governments? Putting this requirement together with the other provisions discussed above, section 601(d) may be summarized as providing that a State, local, or tribal government may use payments from the Fund only to cover previously unbudgeted costs of necessary expenditures incurred due to the COVID-19 public health emergency during the covered period. Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds The American Rescue Plan provides $350 billion in emergency funding for eligible state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments to respond to the COVID-19 emergency and bring back jobs. The Guidance says that a cost was not accounted for in the most recently approved budget if the cost is for a substantially different use from any expected use of funds in such a line item, allotment, or allocation. Territories, and eligible units of local government are based on population as provided in the CARES Act. The funding covers up to 75% of the total project costs. CARNEGIE The Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma has received official confirmation it will receive almost $51 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. Addressing health disparities and the social determinants of health through funding for community health workers. Promoting healthy childhood environments, including new or expanded high-quality childcare, home visiting programs for families with young children, and enhanced services for child welfare-involved families and foster youth. Receiving DFI Identification (ABA routing #), Fiscal Accounting Program, Admin & Training Group. Low 44F. If governments use Fund payments as described in the Guidance to establish a grant program to support businesses, would those funds be considered gross income taxable to a business receiving the grant under the Internal Revenue Code (Code)? Sixty-five percent ($12.35 billion) will be allocated pro rata based on each tribe's self-certified enrollment data. Yes, Fund payments are considered to be federal financial assistance subject to the Single Audit Act (31 U.S.C. Fund payments are not subject to the Cash Management Improvement Act of 1990, as amended. In addition, if these conditions are met, the amount of the grant will be considered to have been used during the covered period for purposes of the requirement that expenses be incurred within the covered period. If a State transfers Fund payments to its political subdivisions, would the transferred funds count toward the subrecipients' total funding received from the federal government for purposes of the Single Audit Act? Coronavirus Relief Fund Through the Coronavirus Relief Fund, the CARES Act provides for payments to State, Local, and Tribal governments navigating the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. Tenants who receive public assistance or are very low income - $25,760 annual income for an individual or $53,000 for a family of four - can access a lawyer for free during eviction proceedings. Don't Threaten. We'd love to hear eyewitness State A does not need to document the specific use of the Fund payments by the school districts within the State. This guidance applies in a like manner to costs of subrecipients. The guidance that follows sets forth the Department of the Treasury's interpretation of these limitations on the permissible use of Fund payments. Keep it Clean. are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID19); were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020 (the date of enactment of the CARES Act) for the State or government; and. The cost of projects that would not be expected to increase capacity to a significant extent until the need for distance learning and telework have passed due to this public health emergency would not be necessary due to the public health emergency and thus would not be eligible uses of Fund payments. 33. 9. A government should keep records sufficient to demonstrate that the amount of Fund payments to the government has been used in accordance with section 601(d) of the Social Security Act. 56. Fiscal Accounting Program, Admin & Training Group. 14. How does a government address the requirement that the allowable expenditures are not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020, once the government enters its new budget year on July 1, 2020 (for governments with June 30 fiscal year ends) or October 1, 2020 (for governments with September 30 year ends)? 47. 1. A Notice by the Treasury Department on 01/15/2021. 5. Although a broad range of uses is allowed, revenue replacement is not a permissible use of Fund payments. 59. Subrecipients are subject to a single audit or program-specific audit pursuant to 2 CFR 200.501(a) when the subrecipients spend $750,000 or more in federal awards during their fiscal year. If you have specific questions regarding a particular fact situation, we urge you to consult the authors of this publication, your Holland & Knight representative or other competent legal counsel. Receiving a PPP or EIDL grant or loan for COVID-19 would not necessarily make a small business ineligible to receive a grant from Fund payments made to a recipient. of the issuing agency. Additional information on the requested information is available under Tribal Employment and Expenditure Submission Instructions, below. COVID-19-related expenses of maintaining state prisons and county jails, including as relates to sanitation and improvement of social distancing measures, to enable compliance with COVID-19 public health precautions. Pursuant to that provision of the Uniform Guidance, recipients and subrecipients subject to the Single Audit Act may use payments from the Fund to cover a reasonably proportionate share of the costs of audits attributable to the Fund. Overview. Tribal governments that failed to respond to multiple requests by Treasury to complete or correct their submissions of employment and expenditure information were no longer able to provide such information to Treasury after 11:59 pm Alaska Daylight Time on Saturday, June 6. The Chickasaw Nation and the Oklahoma State Department of Health are continuing to monitor the coronavirus, or COVID-19, which is still impacting countries around the world. 44. To the extent a cost is incurred by December 31, 2021, for an eligible use consistent with section 601 of the Social Security Act and Treasury's guidance, a necessary administrative compliance expense that relates to such underlying cost may be incurred after December 31, 2021. Oneida Nation General Manager Mark Powless has announced the Nation's plan for membership distribution of received federal relief funds and tribal contributions. For example, a per capita payment to residents of a particular jurisdiction without an assessment of individual need would not be an appropriate use of payments from the Fund. These can be useful Through the Coronavirus Relief Fund, the CARES Act provided payments to state, local, and tribal governments navigating the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. After receiving feedback from tribal leaders through formal consultations and comment letters, the Treasury Department announced that it will allocate the $19 billion based on tribal enrollment and employment numbers. Yes, payments from the Fund may be used to cover costs associated with providing distance learning (e.g., the cost of laptops to provide to students) or for in-person learning (e.g., the cost of acquiring personal protective equipment for students attending schools in-person or other costs associated with meeting Centers for Disease Control guidelines). If a small business received a Small Business Administration (SBA) Payment Protection Program (PPP) or Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) grant or loan due to COVID-19, may the small business also receive a grant from a unit of government using payments from the Fund? This result provides equitable treatment to governments that, for example, instead of having a few employees who are substantially dedicated to the public health emergency, have many employees who have a minority of their time dedicated to the public health emergency. May Fund payments be used to cover increased administrative leave costs of public employees who could not telework in the event of a stay at home order or a case of COVID-19 in the workplace? The President of the United States manages the operations of the Executive branch of Government through Executive orders. endstream endobj startxref Costs incurred for a substantially different use include, but are not necessarily limited to, costs of personnel and services that were budgeted for in the most recently approved budget but which, due entirely to the COVID-19 public health emergency, have been diverted to substantially different functions. As noted previously on Treasury's website, on June 30, 2020, the guidance provided under Costs incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on December 30, 2020 was updated. Box 167 Concho, OK 73022 Phone: (405) 422-7580 Fax: (405) 422-8246 Email: HOPE@cheyenneandarapaho-nsn.gov. In recognition of the particular importance of public health and public safety workers to State, local, and tribal government responses to the public health emergency, Treasury has provided, as an administrative accommodation, that a State, local, or tribal government may presume that public health and public safety employees meet the substantially dedicated test, unless the chief executive (or equivalent) of the relevant government determines that specific circumstances indicate otherwise. Is a Fund payment recipient required to transfer funds to a smaller, constituent unit of government within its borders? 0 FRF may be used to make necessary investments in water, sewer or broadband infrastructure. States are fully permitted to use payments from the Fund to satisfy 100% of their cost share for lost wages assistance recently made available under the Stafford Act. Expenses of establishing temporary public medical facilities and other measures to increase COVID-19 treatment capacity, including related construction costs. Colville Tribe member Michelle Thomas, left, receives a Covid screening from Medical Support Assistant Deb Stanczak before Thomas received her second dose of the Covid 19 vaccine on Wednesday . Every adult tribal member is eligible for this assistance and eligibility is not based on household size. May recipients use Fund payments to facilitate livestock depopulation incurred by producers due to supply chain disruptions? footnote 2 of the guidance has been revised to reflect additional restrictions imposed by section 5001(b) of Division A the CARES Act; FAQ A.59 has been updated to correct the cross-reference to Treasury OIG's FAQs; and the application of FAQ B.6 has been clarified. The President of the United States communicates information on holidays, commemorations, special observances, trade, and policy through Proclamations. Register (ACFR) issues a regulation granting it official legal status. Recipients may, if they meet the conditions specified in the guidance for tracking time consistently across a department, use payments from the Fund to cover the portion of payroll and benefits of employees corresponding to time spent on administrative work necessary due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. These classes of employees include public safety, public health, health care, human services, and similar employees whose services are substantially dedicated to mitigating or responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency. A recipient may use payments from the Fund to purchase a durable good that is to be used during the current period and in subsequent periods if the acquisition in the covered period was necessary due to the public health emergency. As of June 17, 2020, all payments based on employment and expenditure data, other than payment of amounts allocated to Alaska Native corporations, have been made. Territories and Tribal governments navigating the impact of the . Payroll and benefit costs associated with public employees who could have been furloughed or otherwise laid off but who were instead repurposed to perform previously unbudgeted functions substantially dedicated to mitigating or responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency are also covered. The meeting will be held on Friday, September 4, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. AKT. Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2020, $70,674) The Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding (CESF) Program allows States, U.S. One key part of the CARES Act was the Coronavirus Relief Fund, which provided $150 billion in direct federal fiscal support to governments in states, territories, and tribal areas to cover expenditures incurred due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. 42 U.S.C. FRF may be used to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency or its negative economic impacts. NORTHWEST Colville Confederated Tribes 1,750,446 103,183 NORTHWEST Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Confederated Tribes 718,933 13,209 NORTHWEST Coquille Indian Tribe Yes, this would be an eligible expense if the government determined that the costs of such employment and training programs would be necessary due to the public health emergency. The CFDA number assigned to the Fund is 21.019. Box 1328, Parkersburg, WV 26106-1328. Unlike with the Coronavirus Relief Funds tribal governments received last year, tribes also have several years to spend FRF. Be Nice. Projects supported with payments from the Fund may still be subject to NEPA review if they are also funded by other federal financial assistance programs. Are governments required to submit proposed expenditures to Treasury for approval? While many people are waiting anxiously for 2020 - a year rife with disasters and vitriol - to finally end, tribal governments in Oregon are anxious about what will happen to COVID-19 relief . These provisions do not prohibit the expenditure by a State, locality, entity, or private person of State, local, or private funds (other than a State's or locality's contribution of Medicaid matching funds). The calculation assumes at least 4.1 percent growth annually. Should States receiving a payment transfer funds to local governments that did not receive payments directly from Treasury? Goods delivered in the covered period need not be used during the covered period in all cases. To the extent the expenses were previously unbudgeted and are otherwise consistent with section 601(d) of the Social Security Act outlined in the Guidance, such expenses would be eligible. Yes, if the purchase of the asset was consistent with the limitations on the eligible use of funds provided by section 601(d) of the Social Security Act. headings within the legal text of Federal Register documents. For this reason, and as a matter of administrative convenience in light of the emergency nature of this program, a State, territorial, local, or Tribal government may presume that payroll costs for public health and public safety employees are payments for services substantially dedicated to mitigating or responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency, unless the chief executive (or equivalent) of the relevant government determines that specific circumstances indicate otherwise. Yes, if the costs of such remarketing satisfy the requirements of the CARES Act. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) provides an estimated $2 trillion stimulus package to battle the harmful effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. No. 9. The lost wages assistance payment to the ineligible individual would be deemed to be an ineligible. "The pandemic has been stressful for many of our community's families and individuals," concluded Tribal Chief Michael Conners. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), enacted on March 27, 2020, provided funding for emergency relief administered by eligible Indian Tribal Governments (Tribes) to provide payments for the benefit of tribal members and their families for necessary expenses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. 03/03/2023, 159 This means that, if this presumption applies, work performed by such employees is considered to be a substantially different use than accounted for in the most recently approved budget as of March 27, 2020. documents in the last year, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Additional information on payments to Tribal governments is available under Coronavirus Relief Fund Tribal Allocation Methodology and Tribal Allocation Methodology for Second Distribution, below.Treasury has completed making payments to Tribal governments, other than amounts that have not been paid to Alaska Native corporations pending litigation on that issue. The CARES Act also requires that payments be used only to cover costs that were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020. Please note that these instructions are for Fund recipients to return the balance of unused Fund payments to Treasury. *The financial institution address for Treasury's routing number is 33 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10045. May governments retain assets purchased with payments from the Fund? Similar to state and local governments, tribal governments are eligible for CRF funds . 4. Expenses associated with the provision of economic support in connection with the COVID-19 public health emergency, such as: 6. 2. 38. For the full text of these requirements, see Title V of Pubic Law 116-94 (133 Stat. informational resource until the Administrative Committee of the Federal ACH receipts Treasury can accept ACH payment for the return of funds to Treasury. 03/03/2023, 266 Expenses incurred to publicize the resumption of activities and steps taken to ensure a safe experience may be needed due to the public health emergency. that agencies use to create their documents. Fund payments are not required to be used as the source of funding of last resort. 39. Yes, to the extent these efforts are deemed necessary for public health reasons or as a form of economic support as a result of the COVID-19 health emergency. The hallmark of Holland & Knight's success has always been and continues to be legal work of the highest quality, performed by well prepared lawyers who revere their profession and are devoted to their clients. Email: admin@pintnetwork.com. %%EOF Note that a public function does not become a substantially different use merely because it is provided from a different location or through a different manner. Listing of eligible units of local government. The expenses of acquiring or improving real property and of acquiring equipment (e.g., vehicles) may be covered with payments from the Fund in certain cases. No. May recipients create a payroll support program for public employees? DISCLAIMER: Please note that the situation surrounding COVID-19 is evolving and that the subject matter discussed in these publications may change on a daily basis. For example, Treasury's initial guidance referenced coverage of the costs of establishing temporary public medical facilities and other measures to increase COVID-19 treatment capacity, including related construction costs, as an eligible use of funds.