In response to the difficulties faced by cities, counties, and other municipalities due to the public health and economic emergency brought on by the COVID-19 virus, the U.S. Congress and President have enacted three pieces of legislation to provide relief to local governments, states, health care entities, business, and many other sectors. On Tuesday, April 7, ICMA and Sustainable Strategies DC led the webast, Understanding the CARES Act and Other Recent Federal Legislation for Local Governments, and addressed the resources for local governments and communities in these three federal response packages.

During the presentation, Matt Ward, CEO of Sustainable Strategies DC, noted that there are hundreds of billions of dollars that local governments and their managers could be accessing through various programs to be able to deal with virus response and the rebuilding process. Ward commented, "It's a lot to handle when you're already dealing with a lot of strains."

In order to be successful, your team is going to need to be in top form to access and put these resources to use. Your strategy to put forth these resources should be strong and your efforts to match your local needs with the available federal and state resources really need to be put into action now and the coming days and weeks. To ensure success, Ward shared in detail 10 tips for organizing effectively to secure COVID-19 resources. ICMA has assembled these 10 tips into a printable infographic for our readers, so download, print, and share with your teams today!

For more on understanding the CARES Act and other recent federal legislation for local governments, listen and download the presentation here.