Federal officials estimate that local governments now have spending plans in place for most of the money they received under a prominent pandemic relief law. The American Rescue Plan, passed two years ago, provided $350 billion of flexible aid to be divided among thousands of governments. Those governments had spent just 43% of that money as of this spring. But the White House says governments have spending commitments in place for over 80% of the money. In some cases, it's hard to know exactly how the money is being used, because some governments haven't supplied details about their projects.
