Sens. Cruz, Scott, Johnson Request Update From Governors on State Spending of Trillions in Coronavirus Response Funding
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) today sent a letter to U.S. Governors requesting information on how their states have allocated the trillions of dollars in taxpayer funding from the CARES Act and other federal coronavirus response measures. This taxpayer money is designed to be spent on coronavirus response to support those in need, and taxpayers deserve to know how this money is being spent.
The full letter can be read here and below.
June 15, 2020
Dear Governor,
As a Governor, we understand you face unique challenges keeping your citizens safe and preparing for the future. There are many things that happen when you are Governor that you cannot control, but you do control how you respond.
With the coronavirus pandemic, we face new and unprecedented challenges that require all levels of government to work together. In March, Congress came together to pass a series of bills to respond to coronavirus and its economic consequences, including the CARES Act, authorizing $2.9 trillion to provide financial support to individuals, business, and other entities affected by the COVID-19 crisis. States and local governments received $150 billion dollars to directly respond to the crisis.
Now, nine weeks later, nearly $1.3 trillion, or 50% of the CARES Act funds, have been distributed. This taxpayer money is designed to be spent on coronavirus response to support those in need. Taxpayers deserve to know how this money is being spent, so we write to ask for an update on how your state has allocated funds from the CARES Act and other federal coronavirus response measures. Specifically, we'd like to know:
- How much federal funding for coronavirus response, per program or federal agency, has your state received?
- How much federal coronavirus response funds has your state spent?
- What is the balance of federal coronavirus response funding you have left?
- How were the federal coronavirus response funds allocated?
- How much of the federal coronavirus response funding have you specifically allocated to your cities and counties? (Please provide detail of the allocation)
- Has your state used or does it plan to use the Federal Reserve's Municipal Liquidity Facility?
- In your state, have Medicaid costs gone up because of the coronavirus? How much has enrollment changed? What changes has the state made to control cost, and quickly and accurately verify enrollment eligibility information? How often does the state re-verify enrollee eligibility?
- Has your state applied for FEMA Disaster Relief Fund assistance provided in the CARES Act?
- If so, how much has your state requested from FEMA?
Please send your response and all relevant information by Friday, June 26th. We look forward to working with you to protect taxpayer dollars and put our nation on a path to recovery - recovery from this virus, from the economic devastation it has brought with it, and from the fiscal calamity that decades of politicians have ignored.
Sincerely,
/s/
###
