Part I: What is the State Fiscal Recovery Fund?

Credit: Brittney Phan for State Affairs

Key Points
  • Georgia is set to receive $17.4 billion in American Rescue Plan funds through 2024.
  • $4.8 billion of that goes towards the State Fiscal Recovery Fund that Gov. Brian Kemp has direct discretion over.
  • Georgia is unlike most states because the power over that fund is entirely the governor’s.
To be clear, the ARP is a massive $1.9 trillion relief bill that passed in March. Georgia will receive $17.4 billion to spend by 2024. Much of that ARP money will be used to support local governments, schools, hospitals, and federal institutions in ways that are predetermined by the law. The State Fiscal Recovery Fund is money reserved from each state’s allocation for state governments to spend on pandemic relief at their own discretion. That’s the $4.8 billion portion Kemp ...