By Arthur Vidro
You can learn a lot about a person by seeing what they do with the money they get. But people aren’t the only consumers in the country.
It’s enlightening to see what states and cities are doing with their share of the Uncle Sam-donated pandemic funds.
Theoretically, the money is supposed to facilitate the fight against the coronavirus and offset funds that are lost during the shutdown. Fit masks for city and state employees. Certain programs, such as feeding hungry people cut off from their usual sources, can also benefit. Bonuses for healthcare workers and grocery stores also fit into the bill. Also payments to suddenly unemployed.
But some entities have their own ideas.
In North Dakota, state officials attempted to reuse $ 16 million of federal coronavirus aid in October; They wanted to spend it on grants to encourage fracking instead of using it to clean up abandoned oil wells.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has been charged in court for attempting to spend federal COVID-19 funds on student grants for private schools.
In Iowa, Governor Kim Reynolds’ administration last fall tried to convince federal auditors to reverse course and approve their plan to spend $ 21 million in coronavirus supplies on a long-planned information technology update.
Sometimes, even when the money is split properly, the accounting department won’t keep up. In North Carolina, the state’s Department of Education has not adequately monitored whether more than $ 140 million in federal coronavirus aid funds have been used properly, according to a state audit office.
Sometimes the recipient is neither a state nor a city, but a district. In Delaware, for example, on December 15, a former Sheraton hotel was brought back to life as an emergency shelter for the homeless. New Castle County bought the hotel for $ 19.5 million with federal coronavirus aid. Kudos to New Castle for the thoughtful and creative use of aid funds.
In Alabama, nearly $ 2 million in coronavirus relief fund grants have been raised to help veterans treated for post-traumatic stress disorder directly affected by COVID-19. Bravo.
However, there has been questionable spending in Utah’s Uintah County, where leaders are defending the decision to use approximately $ 500,000 in federal funds for federal coronavirus aid to build a snow tubing and ski hill near Vernal. Local business owners and residents alike are upset about the spending. Funny, I guess I missed the headlines about pandemic-ridden snow tubes.
Equally lame is Syracuse, New York’s decision to spend pandemic aid money on a mural celebrating local basketball legends. This is not how the aid money should be spent. But, like people, when you give money to cities or states, they will often make ridiculous spending decisions.
But nationwide, most editions are suitable.
As in Vermont, where the state’s judicial system plans to use nearly $ 13.6 million in federal funds to help ease a huge backlog of cases caused by the pandemic.
In Georgia, the State Department of Education approved a plan in March to pay $ 1,000 bonuses to teachers and most other education workers, with $ 240 million in federal funds being used to help coronavirus. Can’t disagree.
In Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Councilor Marshall Selberg called for $ 500,000 in COVID-19 supplies for a new triage and addiction center. He said the pandemic has made mental health problems worse and he doesn’t want anyone to forego reporting for financial reasons.
Over in Arizona, Governor Doug Ducey was asked to explain how his use of nearly $ 400 million in federal funds for pandemic relief was in line with the intentions of Congress. Ducey used more than 20% of the $ 1.86 billion the state received in the spring of 2020 to replenish government budgets, which added to a large surplus that Ducey now plans to use to raise income taxes by $ 600 million -Dollar a year lower.
Whether a state can use federal coronavirus aid money to cut taxes is a question that has not been definitively answered. But it could easily end up in court.
In Ohio, Attorney General Dave Yost sued the federal government on March 17 over provisions in the latest pandemic relief package preventing local governments from paying tax cuts with aid.
It remains unknown whether the courts could take up this issue or how the courts could decide.
As with humans, the question of who is spending the money has sparked controversy. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers killed a bill on March 29 that would have given lawmakers control over the state’s share of billions of dollars in the federal COVID-19 relief fund, and instead announced his own distribution plan of money.
Michigan lawmakers approved $ 652 million in planned pandemic relief spending without bothering to negotiate with Governor Gretchen Whitmer or her administration. Whitmer vetoed the law. The legislature has again approved the financing. Whitmer vetoed a second time.
On March 23, the Wisconsin State Senate voted to take control of the state’s share of the state’s coronavirus stimulus package from Governor Tony Evers and instead give lawmakers a chance to decide, like the estimated US 5.7 billion – Dollars are spent by state and local governments.
Unfortunately, these domestic battles are seldom based on honest disagreements over spending procedures. Instead, it is the typical youth sparring of our two big parties, both of which want control because they believe they are the “right” party.
What our nation badly reflects.
Arthur Vidro’s “EQMM Goes to College” appears in the May / June 2021 issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine.
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