COVID-19 UPDATE (NO. 212)
All pandemic-related updates, including information about the American Rescue Plan’s city-related provisions, will be in this Legislative Update Newsletter from now on.
American Rescue Plan Act Funds: Non-Entitlement Unit Portal
On December 14, Treasury released the Treasury Portal that NEUs who have requested funding from their state will use for reporting and compliance. Treasury encourages all NEU recipients to access the Treasury Portal as soon as possible in order to confirm their accounts, designate State and Local Fiscal Reporting Fund reporting roles, and submit the required agreements and supporting documentation to Treasury. A User Guide can be found here.
The Treasury’s Compliance and Reporting Guidance details the reporting requirements for all recipients, including NEUs. As a reminder, the first reporting deadline for NEUs to submit the Project and Expenditure Report is April 30, 2022 and will cover the period between March 3, 2021 and March 31, 2022. Future reports will be due annually by the end of April.
CARES Act Update
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act established the $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF). The CARES Act provides that payments from the CRF may only be used to cover costs that were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020 and ends on December 31, 2021 (the “covered period”).
Although Treasury considers the CRF to be a program designed for short-term needs of recipients, local governments continue to be on the frontlines of the pandemic response. In addition, disruptions in supply chains and the Delta surge have hindered cities’ abilities to use the funds within the covered period, and recent litigation has delayed the receipt of allocated payments from the CRF until the last few months. In response, Treasury is now revising the guidance to provide that a cost associated with a necessary expenditure incurred due to the public health emergency shall be considered to have been incurred by December 31, 2021, if the recipient has incurred an obligation with respect to such cost by December 31, 2021. Click here for more information and to read updated CARES Act FAQs related to this extension.
EEOC Guidance Related to COVID-19
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its COVID-19 technical assistance on December 14 adding a new section to clarify under what circumstances COVID-19 may be considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act.
EEOC’s new questions and answers focus broadly on COVID-19 and the definition of disability under Title I of the ADA and Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act, which both address employment discrimination. The updates also provide examples illustrating how an individual diagnosed with COVID-19 or a post-COVID condition could be considered to have a disability under the laws the EEOC enforces.
Reminder: TML Coronavirus materials are archived by date here and by subject here.
