Cities, counties inquire about CARES Act
City and county executives hoping the next round of federal coronavirus relief funding will include money to offset revenue shortfalls have been told money from an earlier relief bill can help fill budget gaps.
Rebekah Hoshiko, communications director for U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-District 4, said Thursday that the threeterm congressman has told city and county leaders about the availability of unencumbered funds from the state’s $1.25 billion allocation from the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act
Congress passed in March.
The steering committee Gov. Asa Hutchinson formed to make spending recommendations for the state’s CARES Act allotment said Wednesday that about two-thirds of the money hasn’t been committed.
“Congressman Westerman’s push is to get that money spent, to funnel that to as many of the counties and local governments as he can, before we start tackling another big stimulus bill,” Hoshiko said. “We’ve been directing people that the way to access that money is through the governor’s office or state leadership.”
County Judge Darryl Mahoney said Westerman advised him to speak to the county’s state legislative delegation about the availability of CARES Act money for revenue shortfalls.
“I don’t think anybody right now has a good handle on what we’re going to be short this year,” he said. “The last thing anybody wants to do is make a profit on any money passed down from the federal government. We just want it to bridge us back into the time when things get back to normal.”
Westerman voted against the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act that passed the Democratic-controlled U.S. House earlier this month on a mostly party line vote. The $3 trillion package included assistance for state and local governments, but Hoshiko said other programs considered by the 1,800-page bill were too broad for Westerman to support.
The bill included another round of direct economic impact payments similar to the $1,200 people received from the CARES Act and hazard pay for workers on the front line of the pandemic.
“The HEROES Act was a really bloated bill,” she said. “Yes, it has some money for COVID relief, but there were a lot more other provisions contained in it that weren’t directly related to relief. That’s the main reason why the congressman voted against it.
“I think he would at least entertain the idea of another relief bill depending on what was in it. But at this point we haven’t seen that legislation on the House floor, until then he couldn’t vote for bills that have a bunch of pork in them.”
State Rep. Lane Jean, R-District 2, of Magnolia, told the CARES Act steering committee that using the state’s federal coronavirus relief to reinforce local governments could deplete funds that may be needed to address a resurgence of the virus in the fall.
“I’ve gotten word from some of the county people that they’ve been told to start looking at this CARES Act for county and city funding,” he said. “If that starts happening we’re going to have requests coming out of the wall.
“I’m trying to find out what we need to be holding back to be safe for the public good. When November gets here and there’s a big wave of infections, I think we need to be looking at it and see how much money we need to be holding back.”
Larry Walther, the state’s chief fiscal officer, told the committee that per U.S. Treasury rules, any money not spent from the state’s CARES Act allocation by Dec. 30 will have to be returned to the federal government. He said there could be an exception for money used to support the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund.
“I assume at the end of the year, to the extent we have additional money, we could help shore up the trust fund, because it’s being depleted every month because of the unemployment,” he said. “… We’re still buying (personal protective equipment). Hopefully we’ll have enough on hand that it will last for some time. That may not be something we’ll need to be doing before the end of the year. There will be other things that may come up if we have another outbreak from the medical side that we need to address. I agree 100% that we need to keep some amount in reserve.”
Hoshiko said Westerman’s aversion to deficits wouldn’t preclude him from supporting another relief bill focused on the economic fallout from the pandemic. That support wouldn’t include extending the $600 a week in federal unemployment benefits displaced workers have been receiving in addition to an income-based payment. The HEROES Act extended the enhanced benefit until January.
“He doesn’t support that because that takes us well past the crisis we’re currently in,” she said. “Things like that are a federal overreach monetarily wise. I think he’s trying to figure out what the new normal looks like and being cautious and trying to vote in the best way he knows.
“In cases like this, when it’s clear that the American people and American economy need some pretty drastic measures, clearly he’d show his support there.”