State Fiscal Recovery Fund

California has received over $43 billion in combined recovery funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to cover costs incurred between March 3, 2021 and December 31, 2024, to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic, including $27 billion in state fiscal recovery funds. The Act specifies that funds may be used to respond to the public health emergency or its negative economic impacts, replace lost revenue, and to make necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure. The framework for the $27 billion Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund to help California build back a stronger, more equitable economy and address the disproportionate negative economic impacts of COVID-19 on low-wage sectors is summarized below. For a full list of project allocations and expenditures to date, see the most recent “SFRF Allocations and Expenditures by Program” link below.

  • Address Public Health Impacts ($0.8 billion) – Includes support for the state’s emergency response to COVID-19, including vaccine incentives. These funds will also help address emotional and behavioral health concerns exacerbated by the COVID-19 Pandemic on California’s adults.
  • Address Negative Economic Impacts ($7 billion) – Includes funds to address various negative economic impacts of COVID-19 on households, individuals, and businesses.
  • Broadband Investments ($2.4 billion) – Promotes access to, and affordability of, broadband by funding infrastructure projects, which are critical to the state’s economy, education, and basic health and well-being, and will serve as a key component of the state’s long-term equitable recovery, vitality, and resilience.
  • Replace Lost State Revenue ($16.7 billion) – Replaces state revenue lost due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. These funds will support a variety of government services.

2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report

2022 California Recovery Plan

2023 California Recovery Plan

2024 California Recovery Plan

Project and Expenditure Report

Beginning January 31, 2022, pursuant to federal requirements, Project and Expenditure Reports for the State Fiscal Recovery Fund are due to the U.S. Department of the Treasury on a quarterly basis. Expenditures are reported on a cash basis, which includes reimbursements to subrecipients as well as advance payments for goods or services that have not yet been invoiced. The following chart provides the Budget Act allocation, amount awarded to subrecipients, and expenditures for each expenditure category.

Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund

(Dollars in Thousands)

Expenditure Category 2023-24 Budget Act Amount Awarded Expenditures 1/
Public Health $794,690 $794,690 $395,690
Negative Economic Impacts $6,980,762 $6,853,313 $4,587,275
Broadband $2,363,343 $2,342,144 $1,185,108
Revenue Replacement $16,742,761 $16,742,761 $16,742,761
Administrative and Other $135,461 $6,061 $6,061
Total $27,017,017 $26,738,969 $22,916,895

1/Expenditures include cash advance payments made to subrecipients for goods or services that have not yet been invoiced.

Eligible Cost Timeframe

The American Rescue Plan Act specifies eligible costs incurred between March 3, 2021 and December 31, 2024. The California 2021-22 Budget Act, as amended by Chapter 2 of the Statutes of 2022, included language to allow time to reallocate unspent funds and provide some additional flexibility on timing. Control Section 11.96 requires that funds be obligated or spent by June 30, 2024, unless there is a reasonable plan to fully obligate or spend funds by December 31, 2024. Funds must be fully obligated by December 31, 2024, with all contracts, deliverables, and agreements in place by this date. All funds must be spent (fully liquidated) by December 31, 2026.

  • A copy of Control Section 11.96 is included below.
  • For additional information on Control Section 11.96, please see slides 5-6 of the State Fiscal Recovery Fund Webinar (link below).
  • Control Section 11.96

Note:  Competitive bidding (or obtaining more than one estimate) is required and contract provisions must be consistent with the basic timeline/framework detailed in Control Section 11.96.

Reporting Requirements and Deadlines

  Interim Project and Expenditure Recovery Plan
Contents Initial overview of status
and uses of funding
  • Types of projects funded
  • Financial Data
  • Information on grants, contracts, and subawards over $50,000
  • Approach and objectives
  • Descriptions of funded projects
  • Performance and evidence information
  • Promoting equity
Frequency & Submission Date
  • One-time
  • By August 31, 2021
  • Covers date of award through July 31, 2021
  • Quarterly
  • By January 31, 2022 and 30 days after the end of each quarter thereafter
  • Annually
  • By August 31, 2021 (covering award through July 31, 2021) and annually thereafter by July 31

Quarterly Project and Expenditure Reporting Deadlines – Reporting is required to be submitted quarterly through the March 31, 2027 reporting period. The table below provides the anticipated deadlines through March 31, 2024 reporting period.

Reporting Period Departments Due to Finance State Due to U.S. Treasury
October 1 – December 31, 2024 January 10, 2025 January 31, 2025
January 1 – March 31, 2025 April 11, 2025 April 30, 2025
April 1 – June 30, 2025 July 11, 2025 July 31, 2025
July 1 – September 30, 2025 October 10, 2025 October 31, 2025

Expenditure Categories – The U.S. Department of the Treasury has identified 66 different expenditure categories to track how funding is used. Some categories will require additional programmatic data. Departments need to determine which categories their projects fall under consistent with the enacted Budget (coordinate with your Finance Budget Analyst):

  1. Address Public Health Impacts
  2. Address Economic Impacts
  3. Services to Disproportionally Impacted Communities
  4. Infrastructure (Broadband)
  5. Revenue Replacement

Descriptions should also include information about how these funds are integrated with other programs funded in the American Rescue Plan Act, such as Emergency Rental Assistance, Housing Assistance, etc.

Contact your Finance Budget Analyst for specific program-related questions and how to assign your program/project within the 66 Expenditure Categories.

For more information, please see the State Fiscal Recovery Fund Webinar and the U.S. Department of Treasury resources found on this page.

Visit the DOF’s State Fiscal Recovery Fund Reporting Portal informational page for instructions on how to access the portal.

Treasury and Other Federal Resources

State agencies and departments are responsible for reviewing, understanding, and staying up to date on all federal guidance and requirements which apply to their federal funds. The U.S. Treasury Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds website contains several helpful documents, including the following:

Other State Resources

State entities are responsible for ensuring SFRF expenditures and subrecipient monitoring comply with applicable federal and state laws, regulations, and guidance and for establishing and maintaining internal controls which include accurate reporting of federal funds into the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) database. To assist state entities in their administration of SFRF, the state has the following resources available:

  • State Fiscal Recovery Fund Webinar – Training provided by Finance staff to summarize requirements for state entities regarding data collection and reporting, management and oversight, and key deadlines. A copy of the training slides is available in the link below:
  • State Leadership Accountability Act – Leadership accountability is about risk management. The following information from Finance’s Office of State Audits and Evaluations (OSAE) provides guidance on managing risk as a recipient of federal funds and/or as a pass-through entity:
  • Single Audit – California is considered a single non-federal entity and is automatically subject to an annual audit, also known as the state’s Single Audit. For more detailed information regarding the Single Audit, please refer to the following:
  • Federal Fund Audits and Monitoring – In accordance with Finance’s SFRF oversight and monitoring responsibilities OSAE’s Federal Funds Audits and Monitoring (FFAM) Team developed the following training to assist state entities in their SFRF program compliance with the applicable federal and state laws, regulations, and guidance.
  • Management Decision Letters – In accordance with 2 CFR 200.332(d), state departments, as the pass-through entity, are responsible for issuing a management decision for audit findings that relate to federal awards it makes to subrecipients as outlined in 2 CFR 200.521. A management decision letter template is provided below:

Resources and Contacts

 

Webpage last updated October 30, 2024