Sponsors (6)
The bill trades redirecting leftover COVID relief (SLFRF) funds to build border infrastructure—which can increase physical barriers and reduce oversight risk for local governments—for depriving communities and taxpayers of planned pandemic recovery spending, raising legal and trust concerns and creating environmental and property impacts.
Border communities will have increased physical barriers intended to reduce illegal crossings and related local safety concerns.
Local governments will face reduced oversight risk by repurposing unobligated COVID SLFRF balances to complete border infrastructure projects.
Local governments, schools, and communities will lose planned COVID recovery spending for public health, education, and local infrastructure when unobligated SLFRF funds are redirected.
Taxpayers will lose access to previously appropriated COVID relief funds as unobligated SLFRF balances are seized for border construction.
State and local governments will face legal challenges and reduced trust in the stability and intended use of federal emergency funding due to repurposing SLFRF balances.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Transfers unobligated State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund balances into a Treasury account to be used by DHS to build and maintain physical barriers on the southern land border.
Official title: Establish the Southern Border Wall Construction Fund and to transfer unobligated amounts from the Coronavirus State and local fiscal recovery funds to such Fund to construct and maintain physical barriers along the southern border.
Introduced January 9, 2025 by John A. Barrasso · Last progress January 9, 2025
Redirects leftover federal COVID relief money for state and local governments into a new Treasury account to pay for construction and upkeep of physical barriers along the United States southern land border. Creates the Southern Border Wall Construction Fund and requires the Department of Homeland Security to spend those transferred amounts on building and maintaining border barriers.