American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 is a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021. It is meant to speed up the United States' recovery from the economic and health effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding package builds upon the CARES Act from March 2020 and its extension in December 2020. ARPA provides a total of $350 billion in assistance for eligible state and local governments to respond to the economic impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more.

US Treasury Fact Sheet (PDF)

Linn County Funds

• $44 million of ARPA funding will come directly from the federal government to Linn County.
• $28 million of ARPA funding will come directly from the federal government to the City of Cedar Rapids as an entitlement city with a population greater than 50,000 residents.
• View the distribution amounts estimated for other cities in Iowa.

Timeline

Funds must be obligated by the end of 2024 and spent by the end of 2026. Linn County government received 50% of the funds in 2021 and the other half in 2022. This timeline is set by the federal government.

Current Guidance for Use of the Funds

State and local governments can use the funds to cover costs obligated by December 31, 2024, for certain purposes, including:

• Responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency or its negative economic impacts, including providing assistance to households, small businesses and nonprofits, or aid to impacted industries such as tourism, travel and hospitality;
• Responding to workers performing essential work during the COVID-19 public health emergency by providing premium pay to eligible workers;
• Strengthening support for vital public services by replacing lost public sector revenue; and
• Making necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure.

Linn County Distribution Plans

Linn County received $44 million in federal relief funds as part of ARPA. The Linn County Board of Supervisors quickly began the work on examining ways to share those Rescue funds and directed County staff to solicit community input and use that input to identify broad community priorities within the allowed use of funds. Linn County held three public engagement forums, used online and community impact surveys, and attended community meetings to gather public input on use of its ARPA funding. Although not required to do so, the Linn County Board of Supervisors chose to make more than half of Linn County’s allocation available to nonprofits and other local governments in Linn County through a competitive application process. Linn County and the City of Cedar Rapids collaborated on an online application to make it easier for applicants to apply for the ARPA funds. The City of Cedar Rapids also received ARPA funding from the federal government. 

Round 1 Applications

Round 1 of the ARPA application process is complete.

View the projects that Linn County approved in Round 1.

Round 2 Applications

The Round 2 application process is complete. 

View the projects that Linn County approved in Round 2.

Total Grant Awards

View a complete list of applicants funded by Linn County through ARPA funding.