American Rescue Plan Funds Give Us an Ongoing Opportunity to Build Equity
In March 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan (ARP), which included more than $300 billion to keep state and local governments afloat during a historic economic crisis. A few weeks ago, the White House released the first ARP equity report, which included encouraging findings regarding employment, income, and access to healthcare, showing that targeted investments are helping reduce race and gender disparities in these critical areas. It is now up to local governments to build on these initial ARP equity successes as they decide how to spend the remaining ARP State and Local Fiscal Relief Funds (SLFRF).
State and local leaders can make significant equity gains in their communities by following examples across the country where communities have prioritized equity at every phase of the decision-making process for spending these critical funds.
Phase 1: Equity Frameworks
Leaders can use frameworks—a plan that lays out how the locality will ensure equity is a central driver of each stage of the process—to ensure more equitable outcomes and engagement practices from the start. Harris County, TX adopted a framework laying out equity goals and strategies, including closing equity gaps, incorporating disproportionately impacted voices into the process, and disaggregating data to measure results more accurately. In New Orleans, LA, the city council adopted a resolution prioritizing equity and followed through with an ordinance that defines how they intend to inform the public and establish accountability following these principles. These frameworks make equity a matter of policy.
Phase 2: Equity In Engagement
To ensure everyone has a say in where these funds are spent, local governments need a robust engagement plan that provides a roadmap for how and when residents can participate. These plans must identify the level of participation officials seek, establish metrics for specific populations and geographies, broaden community partnerships, and focus on tools and processes that break down barriers to participation. Denver, CO developed an engagement strategy to identify high-risk ZIP codes with participation barriers, especially digital barriers like lack of internet access, and then held tele-town halls to educate residents about the ARP and incorporate their feedback on funding priorities. Additionally, localities have held community-wide meetings, sent surveys with water bills, and partnered with local nonprofits to hold focus groups with communities of color, those earning low and moderate incomes, and various age groups. Including voices from all constituencies ensures everyone has a say in where the money goes.
Phase 3: Equity in Selecting and Implementing Projects
Leaders must ensure the projects they’re funding meet goals set in their equity frameworks. Durham, NC created a scorecard for project selection that measures equity impacts, connects projects to strategic goals, and assesses whether projects are community-driven. Harris County, TX developed a list of reflection questions to guide project assessment with attention to outcome measures, disaggregated data, underlying inequities, and the inclusion of voices from disproportionately impacted individuals. When leaders develop implementation tools that prioritize equity, they can ensure that previously excluded voices are engaged in project planning.
Phase 4: Equity and Accountability
This last phase is where leaders communicate to the public what these projects have achieved to ensure accountability for their goals. In Los Angeles County, CA, leaders are developing an equity dashboard that will include a mapping project that examines social vulnerabilities and how ARP meets those needs. But smaller communities are also taking strides in accountability with simple web pages and dashboards that provide spending goals, key spending data, and equity metrics. Accountability in using these funds builds trust with community members and opens the doors for communication beyond this pandemic recovery.
One of the most important aspects of pandemic recovery funding is the flexibility states and localities have to meet the needs of all communities. These funds provide a historic recovery opportunity for governments of all sizes to prioritize equity, and leaders should capitalize on this by weaving equity practices into every stage of spending.
Learn more and access resources at SEAP’s ARP Toolkit. Also, you can view SEAP’s presentation of these best practices at the US Treasury’s webinar, State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds: Promising Practices – Equity and Community Engagement.
Sarah Beth Gehl (she/her)
Sarah Beth Gehl is the Executive Director of the Southern Economic Advancement Project (SEAP).
