Contact your Congressmember Today to Support SLFRR Call and Email Center – IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED
Dear Mayor,
Please reach out to your Member of Congress TODAY and ask them to cosign the letter, urging Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader McCarthy to include H.R. 5735, the State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Fiscal Recovery, Infrastructure, and Disaster Relief Flexibility Act, in any end-of-year legislative package.
H.R. 5735 would allow Treasury to use previously appropriated funds to ensure the call and email centers that local governments have relied upon for guidance with ARPA continue operation. Without H.R. 5735, timely guidance and responses to questions from municipalities will slow, causing delays in the deployment of money into communities. And smaller cities and local governments, who already have limited resources, will be most adversely affected.
Reps. Johnson (R-LA) and Bourdeaux (D-GA) introduced this legislation last year to ensure states, municipalities, and tribes have the flexibility and guidance necessary to utilize all American Rescue Plan funds. It is important now more than ever to get H.R. 5735 across the finish line – the Department of the Treasury recently notified SLFRF recipients the Department is shutting down its call and email assistance center, where recipients could request and obtain personalized guidance regarding the use of SLFRF funds.
There is a tight deadline on this important matter. The deadline to cosign is Close of Business Friday, November 4.
This legislation is widely supported with 163 bipartisan cosponsors. It passed the Senate by unanimous consent in October of 2021, and is supported by the following industry groups:
National League of Cities, National Association of Counties, American Road & Transportation Builders Association, American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials, American Public Transportation Association, National League of Cities, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Transport Workers Union of America, American Chemistry Council, Associated General Contractors of America, American Society of Civil Engineers, Building America's Future, American Highway Users Alliance, American Traffic Safety Services Association, National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, American Institute of Steel Construction, National Association of Home Builders, Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, National Association of Regional Councils, National Association of Development Organizations (NADO), Associated Equipment Distributors, National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National Association (SMACNA), National Association of County Engineers, Institute of Makers of Explosives, American Subcontractors Association, Design-Build Institute of America, American Foundry Society, Coalition for America's Gateways & Trade Corridors, Community Transportation Association of America, Portland Cement Association, American Concrete Pipe Association, American Public Works Association, National Association of Surety Bond Producers, FCA International, National Governor's Association, and the National Association of Towns and Townships.
If you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to contact Paul Penna, Senior Legislative Analyst, at ppenna@njlm.org or 609-695-3481, ext. 110.