Agenda - Council - 09/13/2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

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continued need for response efforts, with low-income workers and communities of color facing elevated rates of unemployment and economic hardship.13 Long-standing disparities in health and economic outcomes in underserved14 communities, that amplified and exacerbated the impacts of the pandemic, also present continued barriers to full and equitable recovery. As state, local, and Tribal governments work to meet the public health and economic needs of their communities, these governments are also confronting the need to rebuild their own capacity. Facing severe budget challenges during the pandemic, many state, local, and Tribal governments have been forced to make cuts to services or their workforces, including cutting over 1.5 million jobs from February to May 2020, or delay critical investments. As of fall 2021, state, local, and Tribal government employment remained over 950,000 jobs below pre - pandemic levels.15 In the recovery from the Great Recession, cuts to state, local, and Tribal governments became a meaningful drag on economic growth for several years, and the SLFRF program provides the resources needed to re -invest in vital public services and workers to avoid this outcome.16 13 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, All Employees, Total Nonfarm [PAYEMS] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PAYEMS (last visited December 7, 2021). 14 Treasury uses "underserved" to refer to populations sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic communities, that have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, and civic life. In the interim final rule, Treasury generally used the term "disadvantaged" to refer to these same populations and communities. 15 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, All Employees, State Government [CES9092000001] and All Employees, Local Government [CES9093000001], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES9092000001 and https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES9093000001 (last visited December 7, 2021). 16 Tracy Gordon, State and Local Budgets and the Great Recession, Brookings Institution (Dec. 31, 2012), http://www.brookings. edu/articles/state-and-local-budgets-and-the-great-recession. 13