Senate Review
ARPA to give Alva $865,067, Cherokee $260,061
December 8, 2021
Shortly after the 2021 legislative session ended in May, leaders of the Senate and House created the Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding, a bipartisan, bicameral panel tasked with vetting and making recommendations to the governor on the use of our state’s share of $3.19 billion in federal dollars to help address costs and needs resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, and help Oklahoma be better prepared to deal with future such events.
Under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the federal government is making nearly $1.9 billion in funding available to the state of Oklahoma, with an additional $1.32 billion more going to Oklahoma counties, cities and local communities. Monies can be used by local governments to respond to the public health and economic emergency, provide premium pay to essential workers, replace revenue lost to the pandemic, and make any necessary investments in critical infrastructure, including water, sewage and broadband access.
Counties throughout the state will receive a share of $768.5 million, and 10 cities with populations over 50,000 will receive a total of about $315.8 million. Those funds will be apportioned directly from the U.S. Treasury Department, and each county’s allocation is based on population.
ARPA funding for counties in Senate District 19 include $1,107,547 for Alfalfa County; $11,859,412 for Garfield County; $841,634 for Grant County; and $8,456,746 for Kay County.
Municipalities and towns with populations under 50,000 will receive about $238.4 million in total funding. They’ll receive their apportionments through the state, based on population, and capped at 75% of their most recent budget as of January 27, 2020. The Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES), the executive agency tasked with distributing funds to towns under 50,000, has teamed up with the Oklahoma Municipal League (OML) to help those 579 communities receive their funds. Municipalities have been contacted by email about the process for receiving their funds. For more information about that process, communities can contact OML at 1-800-324-6651.
To give you an idea of this portion of the funding, here are the estimated amounts for some of the communities in our area. The estimated funding for Alva is $865,067; Blackwell’s estimate is $1,146,088; the estimate for Cherokee is $260,061; Enid will receive an estimated $11,854,984; Garber’s estimated portion is $140,946; and Medford will receive an estimated $164,001.
The ARPA funds being allocated to our state, counties and communities will go a long way to counter the impact of the pandemic, leaving us in a much stronger position should we face such an event in the years to come.
Thank you for allowing me to be your voice at our state Capitol. Please feel free to reach out if there is anything my office can help you with. You can contact me at 405-521-5630 or via email at [email protected].
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