What is ARPA?

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) provides a substantial infusion of resources to eligible state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to help turn the tide on the pandemic, address its economic fallout, and lay the foundation for a strong and equitable recovery.

State, local, territorial, and tribal governments are facing unprecedented strain in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, and the Federal Government is working around the clock on the necessary steps to get this funding into your hands.

How does my organization get money?

See updated ARPA guidelines here.

States, and local governments with populations over 50,000 (cities and counties) will receive DIRECT funds via the new Treasury portal.
  • Access the US Treasury Submission Portal here
  • Make sure your organization has an active SAM registration
  • Make sure your org has a DUNS number
  • Gather payment information (EIN; your name and contact info; name and title of authorized representative of your org; bank name, contact info, routing/account number)
  • Certify for funds by verifying your identity using ID.me (according to NACo, ID.me is a trusted tech partner to multiple government agencies and your information is secure)  
  • To get certified/verified, you will need: SSN, driver’s license or passport number, facial recognition
  • On the portal page, click the “Request Fiscal Recovery Funds” button
  • Follow the steps to complete your funding request using the information you’ve gathered in steps 2-6 above
  • In 4-5 days after submission (which includes time for ID verification by Treasury), you will receive your first wire transfer which will be 50% of your requested funds  
  • No earlier than May of 2022 (next year), you will receive the remaining 50% of your funds
ARPA Fund Submission Requirements from Treasury:
  • Jurisdiction name, taxpayer ID number, DUNS Number, and address
  • Authorized representative name, title, and email
  • Contact person name, title, phone, and email
  • Funds transfer information, including recipient’s financial institution, address, phone, and routing number and account number
  • Completed certification document (to be signed by the authorized representative)
Apply For FundingDownload Letter Templates

Free eCourse – ARPA and public records

This 8-part eCourse will provide resources to help you convince others in your organization of the value of investing in a public records solution using ARPA funds. 

To keep up with the pace of increasing volume and complexity of public records – you are going to need to modernize your technology and deliver more government services – like public records – digitally.  

Is public records software an eligible investment of ARPA funds?

Yes it is!  According to the latest information released by the Treasury (including FAQs), the following are eligible uses of ARPA funds by state and local governments:

  • Responding to the public health emergency by way of:
enforcement of public health orders (including safe remote work for staff and non-contact government services)

With GovQA, your staff can manage public records requests from anywhere they have internet access (at home, in remote locations) — this makes your organization less dependent on physical locations; and ensures staff safety and enforcement of public health orders. In addition, requesters can access requested records via an online portal for touch-free service that complies with public health orders.

public communication and emergency-response data-sharing efforts

This is a core function of public records!  With GovQA software your organization can release information and records (including those relating to the pandemic response) to the public; corporations; the media; and other government agencies with proactive posting, auto-follow, and other functions that deliver better government services to the American people.

GovQA also includes a dynamic knowledge base of emergency and other vital government information accessible via an online public portal which grows organically as new information becomes available, promotes self-service adoption by requesters, and will streamline the department’s efforts to get critical information out to the public more quickly.

Robust reporting and real-time dashboards provide greater oversight and control during and after the crisis.

  • Recovery Funds may be used to provide government services to the extent of reduction in revenue experienced due to Covid-19.  Agencies can calculate their lost revenues using the Treasury calculations and then use ARPA funds to replace that revenue by way of investments to provide any government service, including but not limited to: police/first responder/other public safety services (such as those offered by GovQA public records software); and investments in modernization of cybersecurity, including hardware, software, and protection of critical infrastructure.

GovQA is a quick-deployment software solution that will replace aging IT systems with modern, secure cloud-based technology; increase your crisis preparedness, and allow your agency to continue essential functions uninterrupted and in a more efficient and secure manner. GovQA is fully CJIS and HIPAA compliant to strengthen your cybersecurity capabilities to address ongoing threats and protect sensitive PII and confidential data. It provides safe, 24/7/365 access to agency staff and citizens via the highly secure Microsoft Azure Government Cloud.

  • In addition, most funding uses eligible under the 2020 CARES Act will continue to be eligible under ARPA.

GovQA is also an eligible investment under the CARES Act and many organizations successfully submitted and got approval to purchase GovQA using CARES Act funds. Ask us for more details.

How do I convince others in my organization that we should spend some of our ARPA money fixing our public records problem?

GovQA has a funding request letter template ready for you to use!

Highlights:

  • Professional letter template you can customize to secure ARPA funds
  • Outlines the impacts of the pandemic on the public records process
  • Provides support for carefully selected eligible uses of funding
  • Details key features of GovQA’s Public Records Response System
  • Similar letter templates from GovQA resulted in successful acquisition of CARES Act funds!

Download our Letter and Email Template

ARPA Funding letter template thumbnails

How the ARPA applies to
public records

Read More

Access the US Treasury
Submission Portal

Access Portal

See the Updated
ARPA Guidelines

See Guidelines

Free eCourse – ARPA and public records

This 8-part eCourse will provide resources to help you convince others in your organization of the value of investing in a public records solution using ARPA funds. 

To keep up with the pace of increasing volume and complexity of public records – you are going to need to modernize your technology and deliver more government services – like public records – digitally.  

Other Lessons on ARPA Funding

ARPA Implications for Public Records