What a difference two years—and $5.7 trillion in federal money—makes in fostering dramatic reversals of fortune for state and local budget managers. In spring 2020, governments were confronted with cascading costs in managing the public health response to the COVID-19 outbreak, spiking unemployment, and steep revenue declines resulting from business disruption and restrictions. Two years later, lawmakers are awash in federal funding after Congress approved five COVID-19 assistance packages, pumping at least $5.7 trillion into the economy, including $900 billion to state and local governments. The Washington-based Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that as much as $800 billion of that $5.7 trillion remains uncommitted across a spectrum of federal, state, local, and public-private agencies, and in statehouses, county seats, and city halls. The scenario now has flipped from spring 2020. During the second quarter, from April to June, the U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) reported state and local …