Mississippi is running behind many other states in deciding how to spend billions of federal dollars for pandemic relief. Congress allocated $1.8 billion for Mississippi through the American Rescue Plan, and the first half of the money arrived in the state treasury in May, weeks after legislators finished their 2021 session. The federal government says American Rescue Plan money may only be spent on certain expenses. Those include public health, including COVID-19 mitigation; addressing economic harms that the pandemic has caused for businesses; replacing state government revenue that was lost because of the pandemic; providing premium pay for essential workers; and investing in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.