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Good News: Local Governments Can Now Receive More Cash from Federal Reserve

May 18, 2020

Key points:

-The Federal Reserve today opened up their Municipal Liquidity Facility program.

-This is an open program that any qualifying state or local government can apply to using an online form to receive cash assistance from the Nation’s federal bank.

Details:

President Trump and Congress acted at unprecedented speed to provide financial assistance to state and local governments. In addition to the $765 billion Congress allocated through the CARES Act, the law also established a $500 billion program through the Federal Reserve to provide further resources for these governments if needed.

This program, the Municipal Liquidity Facility, helps “state and local governments better manage the cash flow pressures they are facing . . . related to the COVID-19 pandemic.” These are not loans; it is a way for state and local governments who are reporting a cash flow crisis to simply receive more money from the Federal Reserve. The facility is available to counties with more than 500,000 residents and cities with more than 250,000 residents. The Federal Reserve stressed that this is not a “first come, first serve” program – any eligible government facing financial hardship can apply for assistance from this $500 billion program.

You can learn more about the lending facility here.

You can learn more about the relief that Congress has delivered to state and local governments here.

Want to read more on the fight against Coronavirus? Read our Coronavirus Bulletin here which contains our extensive FAQ about recent federal actions.

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