The American Recovery Plan Act is one gift from President Joe Biden that will keep on giving. According to the “Quarterly ARPA Spend Update” at the top of Joint Appropriations’ agenda today in Pierre, of the $974,478,793 in federal money awarded to the state to help the state recover from the pandemic and avert recession, South Dakota had spent just $186,930,191, or 19.1%, by the end of the first quarter of this fiscal year:
There’s nearly $105 million, over 10% of the ARPA awards, sitting around that the Legislature hasn’t even decided what to do with yet. Of the $869.8 million that the Legislature has earmarked for various projects, we’ve issued contracts for $670.0 million. We’re still waiting to issue contracts for another $199.8 million that has been appropriated.
We’ve spent 100% of the $1.7M in ARPA dollars appropriated to update EMS telehealth. We’ve spent 88% of the $3.0M in recovery dollars designated for restoring Capitol Lake and 84% of the $11.6M budgeted to replace ambulance LIFEPAK heart monitors and defibrillators. Every other ARPA project, including the $35.0M tourism marketing spree, has well over 50% of its appropriation sitting in the bank. The workforce housing plan is the only ARPA project that hasn’t deployed any of its funding.
So when the EMTs jump-start your heart and chat with the docs back at base on their iPad in your ambulance, be sure to say, “Thanks, President Biden!”
One has to wonder, who is lobbying against building affordable housing?
Richard, maybe the usual suspects are bankrolling against affordable housing: the banksters, the contractors, the 6% commission realtors . . .
They don’t want affordable housing, while at the same time they cry about shortages of employees.
Blue states are far ahead of red states in adapting and mitigating the effects of anthropogenic climate change but with prayer non-reservation South Dakota will be buried under ten feet of ash from the Yellowstone supervolcano.
https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/