Congressman Michael San Nicolas held a press conference this afternoon going through the U.S. Treasury’s Interim Final Guidance on how to spend American Rescue Plan funding.  The report allocates a total of $4.5 billion for U.S. territories. Guam’s share of that was estimated to be $553 million. Congressman Michael San Nicolas held a press conference this afternoon going through the U.S. Treasury’s Interim Final Guidance on how to spend American Rescue Plan funding.  The report allocates a total of $4.5 billion for U.S. territories.

Guam’s share of that was estimated to be $553 million. According to the U.S. Treasury guidelines the funds are authorized to be used for:  

• Support public health expenditures, by, for example, funding COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral healthcare, and certain public health and safety staff

• Address negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency, including economic harms to workers, households, small businesses, impacted industries, and the public sector

• Replace lost public sector revenue, using this funding to provide government services to the extent of the reduction in revenue experienced due to the pandemic

• Provide premium pay for essential workers, offering additional support to those who have and will bear the greatest health risks because of their service in critical infrastructure sectors

• Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure, making necessary investments to improve access to clean drinking water, support vital wastewater and storm water infrastructure, and to expand access to broadband internet.

Congressman San Nicolas also went through the Legislature’s spending priority list for the ARP Funds which was submitted to the Governor last week ahead of a meeting scheduled for this afternoon.

“There’s a very highly likelihood the outlines could actually be done and applied for based on what is outlined here in the statements from the Treasury that was issued today,” said Congressman San Nicolas.

The Congressman did cite certain Legislative ARP spending priorities that might not fit into the Treasury guidelines they included:

-$27 million in funding for the Ordot Dump Closure and Post Closure Costs.

-$2.9 million in funding for a 2019 GO Bond related to the expansion of the Layon Landfill.

-$10 million to the Department of Revenue and Taxation to support progress to automate its services.

-$200,000 for the Guam Ethics Commission to support training its members 

Although the Treasury report indicated Guam’s allocation was $553 million, Congressman San Nicolas said that it could be more once all the numbers are finalized. The Governor had estimated Guam was going to receive up to $664 million in ARP funds. The legislature and the governor are scheduled to meet later this afternoon regarding prioritizing the expenditure of the federal relief funds.