CONCORD, NH – The state has completed its obligation regarding the $996.4 million it got in American Rescue Plan Act money, the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery announced Wednesday.
ARPA provided by the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus and pandemic recovery plan, of which $350 billion went directly to state and local governments. It was signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, and had to be fully obligated by Dec. 31, 2024. State officials now have two years to complete State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds programs created by the ARPA money.
New Hampshire used one of the biggest chunks of its allocation, $100 million, on the InvestNH housing program, the state’s “most ambitious initiative to transform housing,” according to the report the state provided to the federal government last month.
In total, more than $112 million went to affordable and workforce housing, with the final unobligated amount of $2,284,698 will go to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund at New Hampshire Housing for use in construction of affordable housing in the state, according to GOERR.
The biggest allocations were $226 million to water and sewer investments; $200 million to state and local infrastructure, specifically programs designed to support municipal and county governments facing new or substantially increased challenges because of the pandemic.
The contracts funded by ARPA money must be completed by Dec. 31, 2026.
“In the coming year, New Hampshire will continue to work closely with residents, elected officials, and other stakeholders to ensure that the state is using SFRF funds to best meets the needs of its citizens,” the report the state submitted to the federal government says.
“New Hampshire moved with lightning speed to get relief and recovery dollars out the door into the businesses and communities that needed it the most,” Gov. Chris Sununu said in Wednesday’s news release. “We made use of every dollar leaving no stone unturned, and thanks to the work of our teams, New Hampshire benefitted from one of the fastest and most efficient recoveries in the country.”
GOFERR Director Taylor Caswell said that the focus has been to use the money for onep-time investments, rather than “big new government programs.”
“The results of these investments are already being seen and will benefit New Hampshire for decades to come,” Caswell said.
The unofficial final breakout of ARPA allocations:
- Water and Sewer Investments: $226,476,550
- State and Local Infrastructure: $200,295,741
- Access to Affordable & Workforce Housing: $112,854,022
- Other Government Services: $81,051,002
- Economic Development: $71,782,499
- COVID-19 Direct Response: $67,367,970
- Youth Services: $54,735,102
- Mental, Behavioral Health, and SUD: $53,493,915
- IT Infrastructure Investment: $37,354,520
- Public Safety – First Responder: $32,856,065
- Tourism: $32,292,931
- Veterans Support: $23,995,565
The state will update with official numbers on the GOFER webpage, where the official report to the federal government is also available.
National effects of ARPA
ARPA helped lift the country from the depths of the effects of the COVID pandemic into “one of the strongest periods of economic growth in a century,” the U.S. Department of Treasury said.
“The American Rescue Plan has helped to power one of the strongest and most equitable recoveries on record while making investments which position our nation for economic success in the coming decades,” it said in a 2023 report on the two-year anniversary of the act being signed.
The act was championed by Biden and considered one of the biggest economic boosts in U.S. history. He signed it after it squeaked by in the U.S. House of Representatives 220-211, with every House Republicans and Maine Democrat Jared Golden, 2nd District, voting against it.
“This legislation is about giving the backbone of this nation – the essential workers, the working people who built this country, the people who keep this country going – a fighting chance,” Biden said when he signed it into law.
Nationally, according to economists, analysts and the U.S. Department of Treasury, some of ARPA’s achievements are:
- Created 15 million jobs, and the longest streak of sub-4% unemployment in more than 50 years
- A decline in women’s unemployment to an average of 3.5% in 2023, the lowest annual average since 1953.
- U.S. had the fastest recovery of any G7 country (U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the U.K.), with higher real wage growth and lower core inflation than all major European allies.
- Wage increases for middle-income and lower-income workers closed the gap on the rise in wage inequality that had been increasing for 40 years by 40%.
- Cut the child poverty rate nearly in half, resulting in the lowest child poverty rate in U.S. history by expanding the Child Tax Credit, making it t fully refundable, and delivering it monthly in 2021. More than 9 million children in rural areas and 5 million in veteran and active-duty families benefited from the expanded credit. In all, more than 60 million children in 40 million working families received largest Child Tax Credit in history.
- By June 2023, 925 state, local, territorial, and tribal governments had budgeted $17.7 billion for 2,766 projects that address housing, including emergency aid, affordable housing, and services to address homelessness. This included more than $6.6 billion towards long-term affordable housing, including both rental and owned homes, with the funding supporting more than 17,000 units of affordable housing.
- $15 billion was committed to preventing crime and reducing violence, with investments by more than 1,000 state and local governments to avoid cuts to police budgets and hire more police officers, ensure first responders have the equipment they need, and expand evidence-based community violence intervention and prevention programs.
- $10 billion in the State Small Business Credit Initiative, leveraging up to $100 billion in capital for small businesses
- A record 16 million new business applications over the past three years; 55% higher than year before the pandemic.