Trampling Taxpayers: American Rescue Plan

Unethical Expenditures

Here’s a short list of some items $1.9 trillion for the Covid-19 Rescue Plan will get you:

• Illinois: Danville Aquatic Center: Looking for a family-friendly escape from the heat this summer? Then check out the new aquatic center in Danville, Ill. Danville’s splashy venture is courtesy of a cool $13 million injection from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

• New Jersey: Phil Murphy spent $15 million on promotional efforts to attract soccer’s 2026 World Cup to the state.

• Maine used $20 million to modernize fish hatcheries.

• North Carolina dedicated $5 million for the development of moonshine walking trails.

• Arizona spent $7 million to boost horse racing.

• New York paid $2 million to plant 3,600 trees.

• Broward County, FL: Commissioners doled out more than $140 million to build a 29-story luxury hotel.

Where Was Senator Sheldon Whitehouse

Most absurd, writes the WSJ, nearly $2 billion of American Rescue Plan funds were earmarked for nonexistent county governments in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

It’s hard to say what’s more embarrassing about this oversight: that so much federal money was allocated to phantom administrations, or that not a single member of Congress did the research to verify whether these county governments existed.

There’s More 

These are just a few examples of questionable projects funded by the American Rescue Plan, continues the Journal.

Billions have been spent on purposes unrelated to economic recovery from the pandemic. Under the law’s guidelines, state and local governments are restricted to using funds for only four categories of eligible expenses: responding to the adverse economic effects of Covid, providing additional compensation for essential workers, restoring lost revenue, and advancing critical infrastructure projects like water, sewer and broadband projects.

Danville received a total of $26 million in American Rescue Plan funds and allocated half to a water park open only three months a year. The city is still grappling with the fallout from Quaker Oats’ December departure—leaving more than 500 residents without jobs. It is beset by deteriorating infrastructure and a historic decline in population.

Jeers the WSJ: … pouring $13 million into a water park seems like satire.