Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
With the Biden administration increasingly signaling its plan to release yet a third Covid-relief stimulus package, county officials are preparing for the possibility of another distribution of federal funding to local businesses and individuals adversely affected by the pandemic.
In a brief presentation to the Jefferson County Commission on Thursday evening, Jan. 21, David Johosky, with the consultant firm Government Services Group, Inc., (GSG), told the board that Biden’s proposed American Rescue Plan included $350 billion to states and local governments.
GSG assisted county officials with the distribution of the earlier Covid-relief stimulus package known as the CARES-ACT.
The Biden plan, among other things, proposes to send $1,400 per-person checks to U.S. households, provide direct housing and nutrition assistance, expand access to childcare and affordable healthcare and extend unemployment insurance.
Johosky said more details about the plan would be forthcoming in the next 100 or so days, and he urged the commissioners to begin making preparations in the event that the funding became available.
He noted that Clerk of Court Kirk Reams and Property Appraiser Angela Gray had already been made aware that they needed to keep abreast of the opportunities that might develop.
Reams and Gray were part of the commission appointed committee that largely oversaw the distribution of the earlier CARES-Act funding, in conjunction with GSG.
“We don’t believe that Jefferson County will get a direct allocation,” Johosky said. “But it would get it through a third party, like the State of Florida.”
He promised to keep the commission apprised of developments as the new program was better defined in the coming weeks.
In light of the potential for new stimulus funding from the federal government, Reams asked that the commission extend GSG’s contract, which he said was still under the $175,000 threshold originally approved by the board.
“We (committee) ask that you extend the contract with GSG so it can continue to monitor the program,” Reams said.
The commission approved the contract extension unanimously.