Governor, legislators fight for control on remaining CARES Act spending

With only 30 working days left before the spending deadline, the governor and legislative leaders in the State Finance Council met Friday to appropriate the remaining reserve funds, as well as take action on any potential leftover COVID-19 relief money.

“As a very practical matter, we have to get those dollars into the programs that can actually execute and get dollars out the door,” said the state Recovery Office’s Julie Lorenz. “The window of opportunity continues to narrow with each day.”

The last $25 million in reserve CARES Act money, which was backup funding for housing stability and eviction assistance, will now instead go toward state agency operations.

The demand from the evictions program currently stands around $8 million, said Lorenz, and the state is hoping to see more applications coming in due to its aggressive outreach. But she doesn’t anticipate demand exceeding the original $35 million set aside.

Read more: https://www.hdnews.net/news/20201113/governor-legislators-fight-for-control-on-remaining-cares-act-spending
(Hays Daily News)