Rep. Delgado Adds Aid to Communities of All Sizes in HEROES ACT

A bipartisan coalition in the House of Representatives passed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (Heroes) Act, the fifth economic stimulus package passed by the House in response to coronavirus. This legislation includes Rep. Delgado’s Direct Support for Communities Act, a bipartisan, bicameral proposal to ensure counties, cities, towns and villages of all sizes can access urgently needed federal funds.

“Today, the House of Representatives took action to deliver much needed relief to our state and local governments. Importantly, the Heroes Act includes my bipartisan Direct Support for Communities Act, which creates a formula to ensure governments of all sizes—including rural counties, towns, villages, and hamlets across upstate—receive federal funding to support essential and frontline workers responding to this crisis,” said Rep. Delgado. “It is urgent that we get these funds to our communities who are facing unfathomable decisions to furlough those working around the clock to keep us safe. Our rural communities are feeling the impact of this right now and we must not delay in getting this critical relief to those who need it most.”

The Heroes Act is a critical investment in our nation’s response to the coronavirus. This legislation includes a $500 billion investment in state governments and a $375 billion investment in local governments distributed using the formula established in Rep. Delgado’s Direct Support for Communities Act, a bipartisan, bicameral bill to distribute federal coronavirus relief dollars. Under the Direct Support for Communities Act, local relief funding would be split 50/50, half committed to cities, towns and villages, and half committed to counties. Of the portion allocated for cities, towns, and villages, 70% would go to Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) entitlement communities using the CDBG formula through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The remaining 30% for cities, towns, and villages would be divided among all non-entitlement communities in the state based on population. The portion of emergency fiscal assistance for counties would be allocated across all counties based on population. The exception to that formula is that a current CDBG entitlement county would receive its entitlement amount if it is higher than what that county would receive under an allocation based on population. Local governments would be able to use this federal relief to help address costs associated with lost revenues and response to the pandemic, in an effort to help avoid cuts to essential services and local tax and fee increases.