COVID purse strings used in tug-of-war
The power struggle over who will hold the purse strings as Massachusetts doles out the latest round of federal coronavirus relief dollars continues on Beacon Hill, where state representatives reached a deal they say would give the governor “some latitude” around how the cash gets spent.
“Our actions this week will preserve the funds while allowing all parties to participate in the discussion and help make decisions about how to allocate these resources,” House Speaker Ronald Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
Democratic leaders are looking to to sweep most of the $5.3 billion in unrestricted funds through the American Rescue Plan into a separate fund as they consider how to spend it.
Gov. Charlie Baker last week proposed a compromise that would have shifted much of the control to lawmakers, but compelled them to immediately spend $2.8 billion of the roughly $5.1 billion in remaining American Rescue Plan funds.
“While the Administration has proposed working with the Legislature to appropriate all of the funds, the Administration also remains concerned about holding up these funds with a process that would take years while the communities that were hit hardest by the pandemic, including communities of color, wait,” Baker spokesman Terry MacCormack said in response to the vote.
Democratic leaders, however, said the Legislature “stands firm” in its quest to impose a public process for disbursing the latest round of COVID-19 federal aid.
Already the Republican governor has shelled out about $394 million of the ARP funds. Four cities — Chelsea, Everett, Methuen and Randolph — shortchanged aid by federal funding formulas got a $109 million bump, $75 million went to the state’s new COVID-19 emergency sick leave law. Another $10 million will cover the costs of Baker’s new “VaxMillions” vaccine lottery, which Baker announced last week.
If the bill passes, it will tie Baker’s hands when it comes to spending more.
Baker would be authorized to spend up to $200 million on urgent pubilc health needs, which Rep. Dan Hunt, D-Boston, said “gives the governor some latitude around some of the remaining funds..”