The American Rescue Plan Act was passed by Congress and signed by President Biden in March 2021. The Plan delivers direct relief to American families and businesses. It also provides direct relief to state, local, and territorial governments.

As a large city, Portland received a grant of $208 million through a part of the Rescue Plan called State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. The City received the first half (Round 1) in the spring of 2021, and the second half (Round 2) in the first six months of 2022. 

City of Portland Rescue Plan Allocations

The American Rescue Plan: Investing in Portland program supports implementation of the funds to serve Portlanders impacted by COVID-19. Portland City Council invests funds in three ways: 

  • To projects providing services and relief
  • To replace City of Portland revenue lost due to the pandemic
  • To support program delivery

Round 1 funding invests $67 million in more than two dozen projects. These projects connect more than 15 City of Portland bureaus with community members, local businesses, and non-profit organizations. Portland City Council allocated Round 1 funds to projects in three investment priority areas. Each project is connected to one citywide equity outcome. 

The City of Portland budget process for Fiscal Year 2022-2023 determines Round 2 projects. Round 2 projects begin in July 2022. 

The other $37 million in Round 1 funding replaces City lost revenue due to the pandemic and supports delivery of the Rescue Plan program. Revenue replacement funds help several City bureaus continue providing important services to Portlanders. 

Program delivery funds support a cross bureau Delivery Team to facilitate successful project implementation. This includes compliance with all federal and local requirements and a strong grounding in equity. The Data and Equity Strategies Team includes a focus on accountable, transparent reporting about our progress and impact.  

Performance Management

Round 1 Project Teams are collecting data on over 150 measures of progress to record the impact of these investments in our communities. The reporting measures help us track progress toward equity outcomes. Data includes spatial and demographic details - information about who we served and where we provided relief. This also includes who we worked with to put projects in place- partners. Data is received on a quarterly schedule, aligning with our federal reporting requirements.

Internal allocations like revenue replacement are not tracked with the same types of measures as community-facing projects. Data is included in some graphics to make sure information about overall spending is clear.

The goal of this open data tool is that community members and policymakers can access project data and understand impacts of investments in our communities. The Smart City PDX Community Leads Cohort shaped the structure and content of this tool. The Cohort is a group of community leaders partnering with the City to improve our use of data and technology. They shared what information frontline communities would like to see when accessing the portal. This included creating context around the data to be clear about its limitations, improve accountability, and reduce the risk of harm. 

The City is also partnering with the Cohort to co-create engagement events to share the portal with communities. These events will gather feedback and support community data literacy. Feedback will inform improvements and new features in Rescue Plan Open Data.

Key Terms

Information about key terms used in City of Portland's Rescue Plan reporting. 

ARPA

The acronym for the American Rescue Plan Act. ARPA is a federal bill passed in March 2021 providing over $1 trillion in programs and tax credits. $350 billion of those funds were delivered to local, state and tribal governments across the United States.

City Council Investment Priority Areas

Portland City Council created three priority areas to guide investments. Each project supports one Council investment priority area. These align with the top City priorities Council set in early 2021 and Council set for CARES investments in 2020. The investment priority areas are: 

  • Household Stabilization: Increase support for Portlanders experiencing houselessness, help vulnerable tenants and homeowners avoid eviction and foreclosure, provide financial relief to undocumented Portlanders, and increase digital equity.
  • Business & Commercial District Stabilization: Help local businesses access federal resources, connect job seekers with employment, reduce permit response time, and activate shared community spaces to revitalize our neighborhood business districts and bring Portlanders back together.
  • Community Health & Safety: Increase wraparound services for families impacted by gun violence, reduce litter and support small businesses affected by vandalism, and provide direct support for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color artists and arts organizations.

Citywide Equity Outcomes

Seven citywide equity outcomes to measures how Rescue Plan Investments advance equity. Each project is nested under one outcome. 

The creation of these outcomes began with the City's Office of Equity and Human Rights feedback review for Round 1 projects. Feedback described which projects aligned with the City's COVID-19 Response Equity Toolkit and which needed more development. 

After selection and funding, each project answered a set of questions. This included a discussion about who would benefit from the project, intended results, and how to measure those results. An equity-centered Results-Based Accountability Framework guided the questions and focused on direct positive results for communities. 

The Delivery Team's Data and Equity Strategies Team developed the seven equity outcomes guided by the concept of "targeted universalism"-when programs are designed to benefit vulnerable communities and groups, everyone benefits. By regularly measuring and reporting the project’s progress and outputs, we can understand how the project makes progress toward the Equity Outcome.

  1. All business operators in Portland, especially those hardest hit by the pandemic, feel supported in continuing to operate sustainably.
  2. All people in Portland have the skills and support to gain stable employment and afford basic life necessities.
  3. All people in Portland have safe and inclusive outdoor spaces for recreation, business, and socializing.
  4. Artists who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color receive support and funding to continue to practice their art in Portland.
  5. All people in Portland feel secure and stable in their current homes.
  6. All houseless or unsheltered people in Portland are given stable and secure shelter with access to health services.
  7. All people in Portland are able to connect to resources and to one another via dependable internet and devices.

Partners

Business and non-profit organizations partnering with the City of Portland to implement Rescue Plan projects. 

Recipients

Individuals and organizations (businesses or non-profits) served by City of Portland Rescue Plan projects.