Here's how Illinois has spent and plans to spend COVID-19 relief funds
Shepard Price, Digital reporter
A file image of the State of Illinois Capital Building in Springfield, Ill.
MarkSkube/Getty Images/iStockphoto
Recently, Madison County released a plan to distribute $19 million in pandemic relief funds. The state has also received more than $8 billion in funding thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act.
In March 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act became law, becoming the sixth piece of legislation enacted by Congress to provide COVID-19 pandemic-related relief. On July 22, Illinois received $8.127 billion from the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund as part of ARPA.
The funds can be used for a variety of purposes related to responding directly to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as its impacts. The expenditures must follow strict guidelines set out by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and can be used for supporting public health expenditures, covering state costs of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing the negative impacts caused by the pandemic, replacing lost revenues of the governmental unit (and allowing those lost revenues to be used for providing government services), providing premium pay for essential workers and investing in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.
According to an email from the Governor's Office of Management and Budget, the administration of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has "taken a comprehensive approach to the battle against COVID-19, addressing the impact of the pandemic on Illinois families, businesses and communities."
The office says funding is being directed to health care needs, as well as critical programs such as housing and rental assistance to help people remain in their homes, assistance to child care providers to assist working Illinois residents with child care needs and grants to small businesses throughout Illinois that have been impacted by the pandemic.
The state says the Fiscal Year 2022 budget allocates $2.8 billion in ARPA dollars for "crucial investments for multi-year commitments to key areas." According to state documents, those investments include:
$380 million for the ongoing costs of the state's response to COVID-19 at IEMA and other state agencies;
$307 million for health care providers, long-term care facilities, and mental and behavioral health programs to support the public health response and improving public health outcomes;
Over $100 million in assistance to impacted industries such as tourism;
$128 million for violence prevention and youth employment programs;
$163 million in grants to community support organizations, including $87 million to welcoming centers;
$114 million for affordable and supportive housing programs;
$56 million for investments in education; and
$450 million for the Governor's Economic Recovery Plan:
$300 million for Back to Business Grants, with 40 percent of the funds going to communities that were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic
$10 million for Tourism promotion and Main Street festival grants
$50 million for Workforce Recovery efforts
$20 million for Community Navigators and targeted business support services
$25 million for the DCEO RISE program for local economic recovery planning and partnerships
$45 million in capital for commercial corridors and downtowns that have experienced disinvestment
In addition to the investments outlined above, the ARPA allocations in the budget include a $1 billion investment to accelerate critical infrastructure needs, including statewide broadband, to spur the economic recovery and create jobs and reserves $2-$3 billion to replace lost revenues to the State to fund essential government services, the state said.
The $2.8 billion includes $1.8 billion for Operating Budget Appropriations and $1 billion for Capital Appropriations. The appropriations from the one-time funds are expected to spend out through Dec. 31, 2026, allowing for "thoughtful and impactful short-term investments" meant to improve the State's economy, the state said, and the social service, public health and educational infrastructure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Funds may be used for expenses incurred through Dec. 31, 2024. Additionally, Illinois is expected to receive $254 million from the Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund.
"In order to facilitate a strong and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn, the State of Illinois will work closely with State agencies and grantees to: promote and protect public health, mitigate negative economic impacts, provide services to disproportionately impacted communities, and complete infrastructure projects," the state wrote.
The plans and programs to achieve the above goals, the state wrote in a recovery plan in August, include so far:
Public Health: Provide a broad response to COVID-19, including purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE), increasing the number of alternative care sites, providing necessary support to hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare providers, supporting COVID-19 vaccination, testing and contact tracing programs, and growing mental and behavioral health programs to support the public health response and improve public health outcomes;
Negative Economic Impacts: Promote recovery for small businesses and impacted industries by issuing Back 2 Business grants, promoting job and skills training, workforce recovery, and conducting regional economic analysis to lay the groundwork for longer-term economic recovery;
Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities: Increase the supply of affordable housing, mitigate the increase in violence during the pandemic, and address educational disparities;
Capital Infrastructure: Complete statewide critical infrastructure projects related to broadband, sewer, and water
Overall, the goal is to rebuild and grow the areas of the economy that have borne the brunt of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to the state.
"The anticipated challenges to achieving the aforementioned goals include balancing impactful programs with the timely deployment of funds," the state wrote.
The primary method for addressing the challenge is by partnering with community-based programs to implement and facilitate successful outcomes, the state wrote.
A total of $786.5 million has been appropriated to support the COVID-19 response and to improve public health outcomes, the state wrote in August. In response to the COVID-19 virus, Illinois is allocating resources to curb the spread of the virus as well as ensuring that front-line workers have the resources necessary to continue their work.
ARPA, which involved $1.9 trillion in economic stimulus funding, included direct stimulus payments to individuals, an extension of enhanced unemployment compensation benefits, direct state and local aid, and several other programs and program modifications to facilitate the nation's recovery from the pandemic, the state wrote in the most recent report to the Legislative Budget Oversight Committee on Nov. 15.
Illinois will receive allocations of funds for dozens of specific purposes as well as direct, more discretionary funding. Current estimates show that Illinois and its local governments will receive over $25 billion in allocations, some of which will flow through the State Treasury, while other portions will go directly to universities, transit districts, and other local units of government.
According to the budget report, some of the larger allocations include:
Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund: $8.1 billion primarily for COVID-19 related expenditures and to replace
revenue lost as a result of the pandemic. Final guidance regarding the allowable expenditures is forthcoming from the U.S. Department of Treasury.
Local Fiscal Recovery Fund: $6.0 billion. Most of these funds will go directly to large cities (estimated $2.7 billion)
and counties (estimated $2.5 billion). Approximately $740 million will flow through the state treasury to smaller
("non-entitlement") cities. Federal allocations will be based on population.
Education: $6.4 billion. Includes $5.05 billion for public K-12 schools, $1.3 billion for institutions of higher
education, and $80 million for private K-12 schools.
Child Care: Approximately $499 million through an increase to the Child Care Development Block Grant program
and $798 million for child care stabilization grants.
Public Health: Approximately $400 million for the State so far for areas such as vaccine distribution, COVID-19
testing, tracing, mitigation, and other related public health costs.
Mass Transit: Approximately $1.6 billion in funds directly to urbanized transit districts and through the state
for nonurbanized areas.
Rental/Mortgage Assistance: Approximately $1.0 billion currently estimated for emergency assistance to renters
and homeowners.
In a breakdown published in the August recovery plan, the state wrote that $1 billion would go to capital and infrastructure, $786.5 million would go to public health, $573.7 million would go to addressing negative economic impacts and $462.6 million would go to services for "disproportionately impacted communities" in the 2022 financial year.
In terms of state departments, the state allocated $280 million to the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, $150 million to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, $150 million to the Department of Human Services, $70 million to the Department of Corrections, $60 million to the Department of Innovation and Technology, $56 million to the Department of Public Health and 21 million to other departments.
Shepard Price
Shepard Price has a Master's degree in Journalism from the University of Texas and lives in St. Louis. They have been in journalism for more than four years.