By Laura Furr Mericas

When the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) was approved in March, the federal relief package included a historic $130 billion to help cities and counties mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic. A behind-the-scenes effort by the National League of Cities along with 49 municipal leagues, including the Association of Washington Cities, was essential in bringing that aid to fruition.

Following the passage of the CARES Act a year earlier, municipal leaders around the country began to rally together around the idea that local governents—particularly smaller towns and villages—had been overlooked. The CARES Act had awarded $8.2 billion in relief funds to 36 large cities with populations greater than 500,000. But according to Irma Esparza Diggs, senior executive and director of federal advocacy with NLC, that left 99.8 percent of the approximately 19,000 US municipalities shy of the benchmark for receiving aid. Of Washington’s 281 cities, Seattle was the only one with a population above the limit.

“We wanted to make sure that cities had the resources to help businesses survive; to make sure we didn’t have to lay off police officers, firefighters, and public works staff; and to ensure the safety of essential workers,” explains Peter King, CEO of AWC, which worked with Diggs’s team to lobby for direct funds for municipalities regardless of size. To stay on task, Diggs set up weekly calls with municipal league directors. “We really changed how we worked as an organization, working across the organization beyond just our everyday missions, to be able to make this an all-hands-on-deck effort,” Diggs says.

Next, they called on local leaders from across the country, including Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards, NLC second vice president, to share stories from their communities. NLC coordinated meetings with Congressmembers, organized state press conferences, and set up media interviews for league directors and their constituents to speak about how the pandemic was affecting their livelihoods. Their focus was on storytelling and education, eventually becoming a full-fledged campaign dubbed Cities Are Essential.

“A big part of our job was to tell the story of who was receiving funding and who wasn’t, which really helped to build support on both sides,” Diggs adds.

While the Department of Treasury finalizes specific guidelines on how funds can be spent and what reporting will be required, NLC has launched a searchable database of projected allocations. As those details get worked out— for example, unlike CARES Act funding, ARP relief can be used to recover lost revenues and can be spent for up to three years—both Diggs and King say local leaders should consult the database to anticipate what ARP relief their community will be receiving and strategize how to best use the flexible funds.

“Assess what your community needs are; assess what your government operations are,” Diggs advises. “Really prioritize the fiscal stability and returning to work of not only your municipal operations, but also your families, your businesses.”

For more information: nlc.org