For Immediate Release: A Couple Billion Here, A Couple Billion There, Where Have All of Ohio's COVID Relief Dollars Gone?
(Columbus) Today, Advocates for Ohio’s Future (AOF) and Ohio Poverty Law Center (OPLC) released an overview of American Rescue Plan Act spending based on updates to their ARPA tracker website detailing state and local expenditures through August 2023.
Through a combination of state legislation and actions by the Controlling Board, Ohio has appropriated its $5.4 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State Fiscal Recovery Funds (SFRF). The last $445 million was appropriated in the state’s two-year budget, House Bill 33. The budget sent more resources to water and sewer projects and pediatric behavioral health care, and an investment in career technical facility expansions.
More than one-fourth of Ohio’s Funds was sent to the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund to pay down the debt accrued to keep unemployment solvent during the pandemic. It was Ohio’s first and largest single appropriation. A close second in terms of total spending includes the nearly $1.2 billion appropriated for water and sewer infrastructure grants.
The APRA tracker not only details appropriations but also the spending of these funds. ARPA funds need to be appropriated by December 31, 2024 and spent by the end of 2026.
“While all of the funds have been appropriated, just half of the money has been granted, distributed, or spent,” said Sarah Hudacek, Interim Director of AOF. “Ohio still has a lot of work to do to get these dollars out the door.”
Counties, municipalities, and townships that received Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (LFRF) have the same deadlines to appropriate and spend the money. The ARPA tracker details how counties and cities in eight of Ohio’s major metropolitan areas have spent their money.
“Our tracking of local expenditures shows that funds were used to stabilize budgets and invest in community nonprofits serving residents in their communities,” said Susan Jagers, Director of OPLC.
The full report can be found here: A Couple Billion Here, A Couple Billion There. AOF and OPLC will continue monitoring expenditures and updating OhioARPATracker.org.
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Advocates for Ohio’s Future is a coalition of health and human service organizations seeking to protect Ohio’s most vulnerable citizens through a responsible state budget that adequately funds vital services.
The Ohio Poverty Law Center’s mission is to reduce poverty and increase justice by protecting and expanding the legal rights of all Ohioans living, working, and raising their families in poverty.