大象传媒

The American Rescue Plan is delivering an unprecedented $350 billion in direct aid to state and local governments across the country, and the sheer size of their share has many leaders overwhelmed. 

The spending possibilities are vast鈥攆rom affordable housing to substance-abuse treatment to rental assistance鈥攁nd prioritizing where the aid can have the most impact is a big job. Some places are getting help with this task in a grassroots way: They鈥檙e asking their constituents how they鈥檇 like to see the money spent.

鈥淲e really wanted to understand how the community was thinking in terms of investment versus recovery,鈥� said Dana Wedeles, special assistant to the city manager in Alexandria, Virginia. 鈥淯sually when we do something new, I like to look and see what other jurisdictions have done. But we鈥檙e all going through this at the same time鈥攚e鈥檙e building the plane as we fly it.鈥�

Alexandria, which will receive about $60 million in aid, is one of several cities  about ARP spending by posting an online form, holding listening sessions and creating a hotline for suggestions, among other modes of outreach. Other places taking a similar approach include , California; , Michigan;  and , Ohio; and , West Virginia, to name a few. Cities are using the information they receive to categorize and score residents鈥� priorities, which will help them decide about their ARP-related investments.

The resident feedback from these efforts has been relatively predictable in that it has lined up with what officials have seen so far during the pandemic. Priority areas in some communities include job skills and training, small businesses, housing, and broadband internet. Polco, the online civic engagement platform that conducts the ongoing National Community Survey, said those categories are ranking high in the ARP- and recovery-related questions among the communities it surveys. Behavioral health care needs are also a priority.

The value of surveying, said Polco CEO Nick Mastronardi, is getting insight into which areas of investment would have the most meaning for residents. 鈥淪o many places are being hit in different ways,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or some, public health is the top concern, for others, it鈥檚 small business and for still others, it is racial disparities. And then within those categories it can be different between demographics. It鈥檚 really important that communities understand where the pandemic has most impacted people鈥檚 lives.鈥�

Officials are also finding new ideas and areas of concerns. In Alexandria, for example, one resident survey respondent outlined the need for more dental care in low-income neighborhoods, and Wedeles said that was a use of ARP money the city hadn鈥檛 examined. It鈥檚 now a proposal the city is considering.

In Charleston, a community focus group meeting in the East End, one of two neighborhoods where most of the city鈥檚 Black residents live, had a long discussion centered on food insecurity and a lack of grocery stores. The city, which is getting nearly $37 million in aid, is considering how to incorporate suggestions from that meeting to expand a food co-op in the East End and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to farmers markets.

鈥淢ost people had really specific ideas and thoughts,鈥� said Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin. 鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to go out and ask everyone what their ideas are and still manage expectations. But I鈥檓 not sure we would have captured as many good and creative ideas as we have.鈥�

Different From CARES

The approach with the ARP aid is markedly different from the one most places took last year with the federal funding provided under the coronavirus relief law known as the CARES Act. This is because of a number of factors. 

For one, when the pandemic hit, it quickly upended lives, jobs, and the economy, and governments needed a financial rescue just to respond to the immediate economic and public health crisis. 

At the same time, fewer governments received direct aid from the CARES Act鈥攊t was limited to states and larger localities. Those that did get funding initially had only about eight months to spend it, although Congress later extended that deadline by a year, to December 2021.

The ARP鈥檚 direct aid is more than twice that of the CARES Act and small- to mid-size cities鈥攍ike Alexandria and Charleston鈥攁re receiving direct deposits for the first time. They鈥檒l also have over three years鈥攗ntil the end of 2024鈥攖o allocate the money. The ARP funding comes as the pandemic appears to be waning and governments are starting to plan for recovery. 

Rules for how the CARES Act funding could be used were also less flexible than those that lawmakers and the Treasury Department have established for the ARP funds, meaning this time around states and localities will be able to consider a range of spending options. 

Risks and Rewards

As always with data gathering, there are risks to watch out for when gathering community input on using the relief funds. Chief among them is that the responses received won鈥檛 represent the full demographics of the community. 鈥淲e were quite nervous that we鈥檇 only hear from those who are loudest and speak all the time,鈥� said Wedeles. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what happened the first week. But over the following two weeks, there was a lot more diversity of ideas and demographics, and ultimately it turned out to be more representative of our population.鈥�

To ensure they are getting the full breadth of their communities, cities have not only created multiple channels for input, they鈥檙e also releasing information in multiple languages and asking trusted partners in hard-to-reach communities for help in outreach. The results are also weighted by demographics.

Polco鈥檚 Michelle Kobayashi pointed out that some governments may ultimately choose to spend ARP money on things that aren鈥檛 widely popular but are still necessary. 

She noted that even though the law specifically says federal aid can be used to fill budget gaps, that was not a category that tended to rank high in their ongoing survey. 鈥淭hat message didn鈥檛 resonate,鈥� said Kobayashi, senior vice president of innovation. 鈥淪o that [use] might need more communication and education if governments decide to do that.鈥�

Overall, though, while the process for cities like Alexandria and Charleston has been labor intensive, it鈥檚 been worth the time. Not only will the resident input inform their decisions regarding federal aid, officials said, it鈥檚 also valuable data for city budgeting in general.

Goodwin, the mayor, said that it鈥檚 helping Charleston develop the blueprint for the city鈥檚 recovery plan, and she would like to do something like this again. 

鈥淲e do a really good job of getting folks who are professionals to come in and tell us what we need,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 any substitute for looking someone in the eye as we did and listening and learning from them.鈥�

This story was originally published by . It has been edited for 大象传媒 Magazine.

This story is part of the SoJo Exchange from , a nonprofit organization dedicated to rigorous reporting about responses to social problems.