What slice of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan would Rhode Island and Warwick get?

State and Warwick city officials are talking about the numbers now that Congress is edging toward approval of the package to step up vaccinations, provide additional relief to businesses and give states and municipalities a boost.

Mayor Frank Picozzi met for lunch with U.S. Sen. Jack Reed last week at Grainsley’s in Conimicut, where the topic of the new stimulus came up, among other issues.

Picozzi said the city could expect $23 million if the measure is approved, however, it’s “not the money you can throw into the general fund and use.”

Picozzi said funding would be restricted and made available by grants. That could offer some relief to the taxpayer, assuming that the grants would could cover costs that would otherwise be paid out of the city budget. It’s a matter of waiting to see.

The bill – which has gained House approval and had been hung up in the Senate over a provision to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour – would give the state $1.1 billion and Rhode Island’s municipalities $600 million. The largest chunk of the $600 million, $122 million, would go to Providence.

Warwick Finance Director Peder Schaefer said Wednesday that according to his information, so-called entitlement communities, including Warwick, would use the funds under a modified Community Development Block Grant (CBDG) formula.

Schaefer is trying to calculate how the funds could impact the city budget.

He faces two unanswered questions – what the city will get in stimulus funds, and what Gov. Dan McKee will do with the state budget.

Of concern is that the new governor could look at federal funds flowing to the city as replacing state aid. In that case, Schaefer says, the city really isn’t better off. Meanwhile, Schaefer is working to account for the $8.5 million the city received from the state to cover the phase-out of the motor vehicle tax and general fund distribution. The aid came from the $1.2 billion from the Coronavirus Relief Fund the state received last March and was distributed on the basis that it be used to reimburse public safety costs.

According to a release from Reed’s office, the American Rescue Plan includes $1,400 stimulus checks to individuals, an extension of enhanced unemployment insurance, and tens of billions in aid for small businesses and not-for-profits, as well as $350 billion for state, local, and Tribal governments, many of which have experienced increased costs and lower tax revenues due to the pandemic.

“State and local government employment – including teachers, firefighters, public health workers, and police officers – has already fallen in all 50 states compared to the same period in 2019. And states and local governments are in dire need of federal assistance to meet the unprecedented costs necessary to address this immediate crisis, limit long-term harm caused by the pandemic, and address longstanding inequities exacerbated by COVID-19,” it reads.

The following breakdown of funds was provided:

•  $25 billion in grants for restaurants and bars that have lost revenue because of the pandemic;
• $15 billion funds Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Advance grants of up to $10,000 per business;
• $7.25 billion plus up of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that expands eligibility for nonprofits and digital media companies;
•  $1.25 billion for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program;
•  $175 million for Community Navigator pilot program which is designed to help small businesses in underserved and underbanked communities access the COVID-19 relief resources available to them; and more.

Additionally, the American Rescue Plan will provide a $350 billion state and local aid package to help states and local governments of all sizes deal with urgent needs and lagging, negative economic impacts of COVID-19, including:

• $195.3 billion directed to state governments, with $169 billion distributed based on a state’s share of total unemployed workers, with $25.5 billion evenly divided among all states and the District of Columbia – with each state receiving a minimum of $500 million;
• $130.2 billion targeted to local governments and equally divided between cities and counties using a formula that targets funds to areas of greatest need;
• $20 billion for Tribal governments; and
• $4.5 billion to U.S. Territories.