Several states have spent only a fraction of the funds available to them to combat the coronavirus from the March CARES Act, according to a Treasury Department report.
The CARES Act established a $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund to enable state, local, and tribal governments to cover expenses related to slowing the spread of the disease. But several states have barely tapped into the reserve.
Texas, which reported nearly 7,000 new virus cases on June 30, a new record at the time, had used roughly 10% of the federal funds allotted to it by the end of last month, according to the Treasury report. Daily counts remain high in the state, with 8,800 new cases reported on Thursday.
Florida, which by the end of June experienced its seventh consecutive day of at least 5,000 new cases, had only spent 9.7% of the funds afforded to it as of June 30, the report shows. Cases in the Sunshine State have continued to rise, with nearly 10,000 new infections reported on Thursday.
South Carolina, with over 36,000 cases and over 700 deaths on June 30, had not touched federal funding by the end of last month, the report shows.
Only a single state, California, had spent all the funding appropriated to it by June 30, according to the Treasury report. During the last two weeks in June, hospitalizations increased 43% in the state because of the virus. The spike was blamed on it reopening its economy. It has since rolled back many of its economic reopening measures. The state currently has nearly 500,000 cases and roughly 9,000 deaths as of Thursday.
The findings in the Treasury report come as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, struggles to advance his $1 trillion relief package.
The senator’s plan does not provide additional funding to state, local, and tribal governments, partly because the first batch of funding has not been depleted, but it does allow states more flexibility in using those funds.
The House Democrat relief bill, the Heroes Act, provides an additional $1 trillion to state, local, and tribal governments. The chamber passed the measure in May. The Senate is not expected to take up the legislation.
