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. 40. Through the Coronavirus Relief Fund, the CARES Act provided payments to state, local, and tribal governments navigating the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. Attorney Advertising. Payments from the Fund are not administered as part of a traditional grant program and the provisions of the Uniform Guidance, 2 CFR part 200, that are applicable to indirect costs do not apply. hb```@(1*q-r|MY9pT`` Pu%}$p19j9T`;)',QlqV4C2ut400pttj$ f gPfcXlX` feby}ewEV, @ %X| 1PU fWO 553(a). This Holland & Knight alert addresses the latest FRF developments, important deadlines and some key takeaways for tribal governments to consider as they decide how to prioritize their spending of these funds. If a government has not used funds it has received to cover costs that were incurred by December 31, 2021, as required by the statute, those funds must be returned to the Department of the Treasury. documents in the last year, 86 11. As previous guidance has stated, payments from the Fund may be used to meet the non-federal matching requirements for Stafford Act assistance to the extent such matching requirements entail COVID-19-related costs that otherwise satisfy the Fund's eligibility criteria and the Stafford Act. publication in the future. The interim report will include a summary of the tribal government's expenditures by category from date FRF is received to July 31, 2021. COVID-19 Resource Hub; WA Equity Relief Fund for Nonprofits; News & Insights. PINT - Plasma In Need for Transfusion , a non-profit organization and online platform helping COVID-19 patients in need of convalescent plasma find and match with donors, quicker and more efficiently. Blog; Press Room; Subscribe for Updates; About Us. Within this category of substantially different uses, as stated in the Guidance above, Treasury has included payroll and benefits expenses for 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. Yes, if the administrative expenses represent an increase over previously budgeted amounts and are limited to what is necessary. 49. President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law March 11 with Native American tribes receiving more than $31 billion the largest-ever investment to Native American. The documents are linked individually below and can also be accessed on the Treasury Department's website. The requirement that expenditures be incurred due to the public health emergency means that expenditures must be used for actions taken to respond to the public health emergency. As discussed in the Guidance above, the CARES Act provides that payments from the Fund must be used only to cover costs that were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020. May Fund payments be used to cover such an employee's entire payroll cost or just the portion of time spent on mitigating or responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency? The Secretary of the Treasury has adopted this guidance for recipients of payments from the Fund pursuant to his authority under the Social Security Act to adopt rules and regulations as may be necessary to the efficient administration of the functions with which he is charged under the Social Security Act. Except for premium pay to essential workers, the Treasury Department's Interim Final Rule states that FRF cannot be used for costs incurred prior to March 3, 2021. 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. The tribes executive and legislative branches are working together to form a plan to best utilize the funds to benefit tribal members through programs and services, according to Neely Tsoodle, tribe information officer. In particular, financial assistance to private hospitals could take the form of a grant or a short-term loan. Tribal Broadband Learning Community: Data Sovereignty . 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. Don't knowingly lie about anyone headings within the legal text of Federal Register documents. Be Nice. FEMA Learn more about FEMA consideration and eligible expense Appropriated Coronavirus Relief Fund Contracting Process The Life Cycle for Coronavirus Relief Funds Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8 Illustrated Version of the Contracting Process 4. 5. Fund payments may not be used for expenses that have been or will be reimbursed by another federal program (including, for example, the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund administered by the Department of Education). The disaster declaration for the Colville Tribes and the resulting agreement are the first in FEMA Region 10, as tribes previously were required to seek federal disaster aid through a state declaration. These include: Although tribes have broad discretion within the above categories of infrastructure, the Treasury Department clarified in the Interim Final Rule that general infrastructure spending (roads, energy, etc.) 03/03/2023, 266 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. Kiowa Tribe approved for COVID relief funds. Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF). Document Drafting Handbook With the new delta variant of the COVID-19 virus, our cases of the disease are as bad as they have ever been. 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. A cost is not considered to have been accounted for in a budget merely because it could be met using a budgetary stabilization fund, rainy day fund, or similar reserve account. Tribal governments may use FRF to provide government services to the extent of the tribe's reduction in revenue experienced because of the COVID-19 public health emergency. 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). documents in the last year, 853 provide legal notice to the public or judicial notice to the courts. Data Sovereignty. 1. However, general infrastructure spending may be allowed under another category of FRF (e.g., government services). documents in the last year, 513 Costs of providing COVID-19 testing, including serological testing. Thus the cost of a good or service received during the covered period will not be considered eligible under section 601(d) if there is no need for receipt until after the covered period has expired. In the Interim Final Rule and Frequently Asked Questions, the Treasury Department elaborated on the four categories of permissible uses of FRF as set forth in the American Rescue Plan. 7501-7507) and the related provisions of the Uniform Guidance, 2 CFR 200.303 regarding internal controls, 200.330 through 200.332 regarding subrecipient monitoring and management, and subpart F regarding audit requirements. The Fund is designed to provide ready funding to address unforeseen financial needs and risks created by the COVID-19 public health emergency. 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). Payments to tribal governments were determined by the Secretary of the Treasury in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior and American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. All costs of such employees may be covered using payments from the Fund for services provided during the period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on December 31, 2021. Enclosed please find an application form and instructions. The Guidance provides that eligible expenditures may include expenditures related to the provision of grants to small businesses to reimburse the costs of business interruption caused by required closures. 5401 0 obj <> endobj Treasury is pleased to accept requests for Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. And the reservation's borders are fluid, so even the tribe's extensive precautions haven't been enough to fully protect Colville . The Colville Business Council took swift action to mandate the vaccine this spring, when they passed a resolution that allowed only for medical exemptions. 6. Please see the answer provided by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) available at https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/cares-act-coronavirus-relief-fund-frequently-asked-questions. Other eligible expenditures include payroll and benefit costs of educational support staff or faculty responsible for developing online learning capabilities necessary to continue educational instruction in response to COVID-19-related school closures. Further, infrastructure projects other than water, sewer and broadband are not permissible uses of FRF unless 1) related to COVID-19 or 2) provided as government services to the extent of the tribal government's lost revenue. The new COVID-19 relief bill include $31.2 billion for native communities and tribal governments. for better understanding how a document is structured but The Treasury Department made clear during the consultations that tribes that fail to confirm or amend their 2019 employment numbers by June 21 will not receive a payment from the employment allocation. Promotional Rates were found for your code. Fund payments are not subject to the Cash Management Improvement Act of 1990, as amended. Governments have discretion to determine how to tailor assistance programs they establish in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Public universities have incurred expenses associated with providing refunds to students for education-related expenses, including tuition, room and board, meal plans, and other fees (such as activities fees). 2. If a State determines that expanding meat processing capacity, including by paying overtime to USDA meat inspectors, is a necessary expense incurred due to the public health emergency, such as if increased capacity is necessary to allow farmers and processors to donate meat to food banks, then such expenses are eligible expenses, provided that the expenses satisfy the other requirements set forth in section 601(d) of the Social Security Act outlined in the Guidance. Are Fund payments to State, territorial, local, and tribal governments subject to the provisions of the Uniform Guidance applicable to grant agreements? Unemployment insurance costs related to the COVID-19 public health emergency if such costs will not be reimbursed by the federal government pursuant to the CARES Act or otherwise. Please contact your responsible Holland & Knight lawyer or the authors of this alert for timely advice. This means, for example, that a government could cover payroll expenses allocated on an hourly basis to employees' time dedicated to mitigating or responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency. CARNEGIE The Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma has received official confirmation it will receive almost $51 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. First, we estimate the state will receive about $9.5 billion from the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) . documents in the last year, by the Energy Department State, territorial, local, and Tribal governments receiving funds from Treasury should ensure that funds transferred to other entities, whether pursuant to a grant program or otherwise, are used in accordance with section 601(d) of the Social Security Act as implemented in the Guidance. For example, a State received the minimum $1.25 billion allocation and had one county with a population over 500,000 that received $250 million directly. As discussed in previous Treasury guidance on use of the Fund, a recipient's small business assistance program should be tailored to assist those businesses in need of such assistance. As a matter of administrative convenience, the entire payroll cost of an employee whose time is substantially dedicated to mitigating or responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency is eligible, provided that such payroll costs are incurred by December 31, 2021. Only official editions of the to the courts under 44 U.S.C. Accordingly, the lost revenue/government services category is the broadest and most flexible. Must a stay-at-home order or other public health mandate be in effect in order for a government to provide assistance to small businesses using payments from the Fund? Please see the Guidance for a discussion of what is meant by an expense that was not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the worst health and economic crises in modern history and it continues to require the best of humanity to overcome. In addition, expenses that have been or will be reimbursed under any federal program, such as the reimbursement by the federal government pursuant to the CARES Act of contributions by States to State unemployment funds, are not eligible uses of Fund payments. If a government deposits Fund payments in a government's general account, it may use those funds to meet immediate cash management needs provided that the full amount of the payment is used to cover necessary expenditures. The Treasury Department's guidance provides tribal governments broad discretion in spending FRF and recognizes the disproportionate impact COVID-19 has had on tribes. Are these types of public university student refunds eligible uses of Fund payments? The CARES Act directs Treasury to use U.S. Census Bureau data for the most recent year for which data is available. May Fund recipients upgrade critical public health infrastructure, such as providing access to running water for individuals and families in rural and tribal areas to allow them to maintain proper hygiene and defend themselves against the virus?
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