THIS Friday, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres will present to the Legislature his expenditure plan for the $481 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds that the CNMI recently received.
Mayors as well as officials of the judicial branch have also been invited to the presentation, which will discuss, among other topics, the federal guidelines on the expenditure of the ARPA funds.
The governor said that government branches, departments, entities, nonprofits and businesses have been asking for assistance through the ARPA.
He placed great emphasis on following the guidelines provided by the federal government for the expenditure of these funds.
“We do have guidelines that we need to follow,” he said.
The governor added that the goal is to spend the money as quickly as possible while ensuring that the guidelines are followed.
The funding authorized by ARPA was formally requested by the Torres-Palacios administration and will finance ongoing Covid-19 emergency measures while replenishing lost CNMI government revenue due to the pandemic and bring back government jobs lost during the pandemic.
Funding will also be provided for capital improvement projects, infrastructure improvement, additional rental assistance, and small business credit expansion.
In addition, the Commonwealth will be able to provide job training and other assistance to unemployed workers, and direct aid to families facing food, housing, and other financial insecurity.
Small businesses, particularly those in travel and tourism, may be given loans, grants, and counseling to help their recovery.
Investment in infrastructure, such as water and sewer projects that align with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund is also permitted.
Moreover, broadband infrastructure can be built to meet the standard of 100 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload speeds, and direct aid can be provided to households to support internet access at these speeds.
Municipalities in the Northern Marianas are also qualified to receive Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.
