# Plain Language Summary: Congressional Disapproval of Treasury's Coronavirus Relief Spending Rule

This bill is Congress's way of saying "no" to a rule that the Treasury Department created in November 2023 about how states and cities can spend their coronavirus relief money. Back during the pandemic, Congress gave states and local governments billions of dollars to help them recover economically. The Treasury Department then wrote detailed rules explaining what that money could actually be used for. This bill would reject those Treasury rules and make them invalid, essentially wiping them off the books.

The practical effect is that if this bill passes, states and cities would lose the Treasury Department's official guidance on how to spend their coronavirus recovery funds. This creates real confusion because without clear rules, local governments wouldn't know exactly what projects and expenses are allowed. They might have already made spending plans based on the Treasury's rules, and suddenly those guidelines would disappear. The bill doesn't create new rules to replace the old ones—it just eliminates the Treasury's guidance, leaving a legal vacuum about how billions in pandemic relief money should be used.

Who this affects depends on where you live. State and local governments would be most directly impacted, as they'd need to figure out new ways to interpret what their coronavirus relief money can fund. Residents could be affected indirectly if their city or state had planned projects based on the Treasury rules—those plans might get delayed or changed. The bill was introduced by Republican members of Congress who apparently disagreed with how the Treasury Department interpreted the rules, but it's unclear what specific Treasury guidance they objected to or what alternative approach they prefer.

Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of the Treasury relating to "Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds".

Balderson, Troy

This joint resolution nullifies the Department of Treasury's rule titled Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, which was issued on November 20, 2023.The rule relates to the use of State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF), which were initially authorized under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to help state and local governments respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Current regulations allow for the use of funds for authorized purposes by December 31, 2026, if such funds are obligated for expenditure by December 31, 2024.The rule modifies the definition of an&nbsp;obligation&nbsp;to include satisfaction of administrative or legal requirements that are associated with the SLFRF program, such as reporting, audit, or environmental compliance requirements. Funds for these purposes are considered to be obligated by the required deadline of December 31, 2024. Estimated amounts of such obligations must be reported to Treasury by April 30, 2024, and the funds must still be used by December 31, 2026.