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U.S. Treasury Releases New Guidance on Certification Process for State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund
The U.S. Treasury released its guidance on pre-award requirements, outlining immediate steps counties need to take to receive direct payments from the U.S. Treasury under the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Funds authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act.
As soon as possible, county governments should complete the steps below:
1. Ensure the entity has a valid DUNS number. A DUNS number is a unique nine-character number used to identify an organization and is issued by Dun & Bradstreet. The federal government uses the DUNS number to track how federal money is allocated. A DUNS number is required prior to registering with the SAM database, which is outlined below. Registering for a DUNS number is free of charge. If an entity does not have a valid DUNS number, please visit https://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/ or call 1-866-705-5711 to begin the registration process.
2. Ensure the entity has an active SAM registration. SAM is the official government-wide database to register with in order to do business with the U.S. government. All federal financial assistance recipients must register on SAM.gov and renew their SAM registration annually to maintain an active status to be eligible to receive federal financial assistance. There is no charge to register or maintain your entity SAM registration.
If an entity does not have an active SAM registration, please visit, SAM.gov to begin the entity registration or renewal process. Please note that SAM registration can take up to three weeks; delay in registering in SAM could impact timely payment of funds.
Click here for a quick overview for SAM registration
3. Gather the entity’s payment information, including:
Entity Identification Number (EIN), name and contact information
Name and title of an authorized representative of the entity
Financial institution information (e.g., routing and account number, financial institution name and contact information)
Treasury Creates New COVID-19 Implementation Office; National Association of Counties Unveils New ARP Resources
The U.S. Department of Treasury announced the creation of a new office dedicated to the distribution of COVID-19 relief to state and local governments. Treasury also launched a new website with resources on COVID-19 relief programs, including the $362 billion Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (Recovery Fund).
Additionally, NACo released a new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document that answers common questions asked by members about the Recovery Fund.
Finally, NACo launched a new interactive tool to assist counties in navigating county-related funding for the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-2). The new interactive tool helps navigate the roughly $1.5 trillion in county related funding from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Programs that may provide counties with additional funding are denoted as “county eligible.” As federal guidance for the various new and existing programs are released, this information will be updated.
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