Illinois communities spending COVID relief funds amid threat of federal
claw back
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[June 01, 2023]
By Kevin Bessler | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Communities around Illinois continue to forge
ahead with spending federal COVID-19 relief tax dollars as rumblings
from Washington hint at a possible claw back of funds.
Local leaders are concerned that budget negotiations to raise the
country’s debt ceiling could mean Congress would claw back some unused
American Rescue Plan Act funds.
The University of Illinois-Extension held a roundtable discussion
Wednesday to find out how some communities are spending ARPA dollars,
and the topic of a possible claw back came up.
Jackson County Broadband coordinator Brian Chapman said a federal claw
back of COVID funding would be devastating.
“Am I concerned about it, yes, especially for broadband, but at the end
of the day, I think that our elected officials in Washington understand
how important this is to get broadband out to everyone,” Chapman said.
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Officials have denied that funds already distributed would be taken
back, but money sitting in the U.S. Treasury Department that hasn't been
doled out yet could be recalled.
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Chapman said they spent $5 million of ARPA funding to upgrade broadband,
which he thinks is essential in attracting new residents.
“It is weekly that I have real estate agents calling me wanting to know
when they are going to get broadband to this particular home or this
particular farm because they have a buyer, but the buyer is not
interested because there is no high speed internet,” Chapman said.
Illinois state government received $8.1 billion from the Coronavirus
State Fiscal Recovery Fund as part of ARPA. Some governors have gone on
record saying any kind of federal claw back would wreak havoc with state
budgets.
Last September, the state of Illinois announced that more than 1,200
small cities, towns and villages across Illinois would receive $371
million as part of the second round of funding through the federal
American Rescue Plan Act.
Michael Buehler, chairman of the McHenry County Board, said in
anticipation of a claw back, the board took action.
“We had already started looking at some of the programs that we funded
that maybe were under performing, and making sure we got those allocated
by 2024 so we don’t give any funds back,” Buehler said.
Kevin Bessler reports on statewide issues in Illinois for
the Center Square. He has over 30 years of experience in radio news
reporting throughout the Midwest. |