Expecting states and local governments to face severe budget shortfalls and new spending needs related to the pandemic, Congress appropriated hundreds of billions of dollars for two fairly flexible relief funds: the coronavirus relief fund (CRF, part of the CARES Act last year) and the coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds (part of this year’s American Rescue Plan Act).

The state of Washington was allocated $4.428 billion from the coronavirus state fiscal recovery fund, and the Legislature appropriated $3.162 billion of it this year. At the same time, Washington’s revenue forecasts have improved substantially and the state did not have a shortfall to address this year.

The New York Times reports that budget situations across the country have similarly improved, to the extent that there is second-guessing in DC about the usefulness of these funds:

From California to Virginia, many states that faced devastating shortfalls in the depths of the pandemic recession now find themselves flush with tax revenues because of a rebounding economy and a soaring stock market. Lawmakers who worried about budget cuts are now proposing lucrative increases in school spending, tax cuts and direct payments to their residents.

The unexpectedly rosy picture is raising pressure on President Biden to repurpose hundreds of billions of dollars of federal aid approved this year, in order to help fund a potential bipartisan infrastructure deal.

However, “Even if the administration wanted to recoup or divert the funds, it is unlikely that it could repurpose the money or make significant changes to how it is used without congressional action.” That said, as Congress considers an infrastructure bill, “Repurposing unspent funds could help advance an agreement, particularly given Republican opposition to bankrolling state aid in previous rescue packages.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has now said how coronavirus local fiscal recovery fund money should be distributed to non-entitlement units of local government (NEUs, or non-metropolitan cities). (Earlier this month, Treasury released official allocations for the coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds. The state of Washington will receive $4.428 billion, counties in Washington will receive $1.479 billion, and metropolitan cities in Washington will receive $770.4 million.)

According to Treasury, the $442.8 million that will go to NEUs in Washington will be allocated based on population, in two equal tranches. The total allocated to an NEU may not exceed 75% of the NEU’s most recent budget (as of Jan. 27, 2020).

The table below shows my estimate of how much each NEU will receive in total, based on the Treasury methodology. Note that it assumes none of the allocations exceed the budget cap, so these estimates are maximums.