On May 10, 2021, the U.S. Department of Treasury announced its distribution plans for $20 billion in Covid-19 Fiscal Recovery Funds for tribal governments. These funds are part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) that was signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021.
Tribes should be aware of two upcoming deadlines, as each tribe will need to submit information to be eligible to receive its share of the $20 billion in Fiscal Recovery Funds for tribal governments:
- For the first distribution, tribes must access the Treasury Submission Portal by May 24, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time to request funds and submit required information. The first distribution will include a tribe’s share of the $1 billion to be divided equally among all tribes. The first distribution will also include a tribe’s pro rata share of $12.35 billion that will be disbursed according to tribal enrollment data.
- For the second distribution, tribes must access the Treasury Submission Portal by June 7, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time to confirm or amend their employment numbers. The second distribution will provide tribes with a pro rata share of the $6.65 billion to be distributed based on employment data.
As a part of these submissions, each tribe will establish a point of contact to receive status updates regarding the tribe’s allocation request to Treasury. Once the necessary documentation is submitted and determined to be complete and accurate, the point of contact will receive information regarding the timing and amount of the first distribution.
If there are any issues with processing the request, Treasury will email the tribe’s point of contact. Native Law Group recommends that a tribe’s point of contact regularly check their email for Treasury updates over the coming weeks.
Treasury also provided two important documents related to the distribution of the $20 billion in Fiscal Recovery Funds for tribal governments. The first is an explanation of the allocation method for these distributions. The second is a checklist for tribal governments to help ensure that tribes have all the necessary information needed to be eligible to receive these distributions.
Additional information, important dates, and links to Treasury Submission Portal are available here.
Patterson Earnhart Real Bird & Wilson LLP is actively monitoring Treasury’s disbursement of funding under the American Recovery Plan Act. To learn more about this issue and how we can assist, contact attorney Rollie Wilson in our DC Office at 202-340-8232.