Common use of Restrictions on Use Clause in Contracts

Restrictions on Use. As discussed above, recipients have considerable flexibility to use Fiscal Recovery Funds to address the diverse needs of their communities. To ensure that payments from the Fiscal Recovery Funds are used for these congressionally permitted purposes, the ARPA includes two provisions that further define the boundaries of the statute’s eligible uses. Section 602(c)(2)(A) of the Act provides that States and territories may not ‘‘use the funds . . . to either directly or indirectly offset a reduction in . . . net tax revenue . . . resulting from a change in law, regulation, or administrative interpretation during the covered period that reduces any tax . . . or delays the imposition of any tax or tax increase.’’ In addition, sections 602(c)(2)(B) and 603(c)(2) prohibit any recipient, including cities, nonentitlement units of government, and counties, from using Fiscal Recovery Funds for deposit into any pension fund. These restrictions support the use of funds for the congressionally permitted purposes described in Section II of this Supplementary Information by providing a backstop against the use of funds for purposes outside of the eligible use categories. These provisions give force to Congress’s clear intent that Fiscal Recovery Funds be spent within the four eligible uses identified in the statute—(1) to respond to the public health emergency and its negative economic impacts, (2) to provide premium pay to essential workers, (3) to provide government services to the extent of eligible governments’ revenue losses, and (4) to make necessary water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure investments—and not otherwise. These four eligible uses reflect Congress’s judgment that the Fiscal Recovery Funds should be expended in particular ways that support recovery from the COVID–19 public health emergency. The further restrictions reflect Congress’s judgment that tax cuts and pension deposits do not fall within these eligible uses. The interim final rule describes how Treasury will identify when such uses have occurred and how it will recoup funds put toward these impermissible uses and, as discussed in Section VIII of this SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION, establishes a reporting framework for monitoring the use of Fiscal Recovery Funds for eligible uses.