By John Haughey
The Center Square
September 23, 2020
Florida will disperse $255 million in a second round of federal Coronavirus Relief Fund allocations across 55 of the state’s 67 counties, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office announced.
Congress approved $150 billion for state and local governments when it adopted the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Florida received about $8.33 billion from the CARES Act for government assistance. Under the bill, 55 percent was reserved for the state and 45 percent reserved for direct payments to municipalities.
Of the $3.75 billion earmarked for counties and cities, more than $2.47 billion was distributed in direct payments from the U.S. Treasury to the 12 urban Florida counties with populations greater than 500,000 people.
The remaining $1.28 billion has been in state coffers since March, minus $574 million dispersed in two allocations.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) dispersed 25 percent of their allocated funds to the 55 smaller counties in June, amounting to $318.8 million.
To earn additional allocations, counties had to report to FDEM how they used CARES Act funds to battle COVID-19 and how they plan to do so in the future.
The $255 million being allocated to counties now is based on those reports, the governor’s office said, noting additional disbursements “will be considered on a reimbursement basis.”
About $700 million remains unspent and is part of the $5.9 billion in CARES Act funds DeSantis said is “obligated,” although he has not identified specific plans for it.
Florida is awaiting federal guidance on how CARES Act dollars can be spent, specifically whether the federal aid can be used to help plug a forecast $3 billion hole in the state’s $92.3 billion budget.
Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio warned earlier this month the state may have to wait until after November’s election for that federal guidance.
The governor’s office released its plans late Friday after U.S. Rep. Darren Soto and 10 fellow Florida congressional Democrats sent a letter to DeSantis requesting he immediately release the remaining CRF money allocated to the 55 counties in the CARES Act.
“The CRF is a vital lifeline for maintaining uninterrupted operation of local government and services and purchase of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE),” Soto and the 10 others wrote. “We also stress that this is a time sensitive matter. The CARES Act money needs to be spent by Dec. 31, 2020, and cities and counties are in desperate need of these resources now. We urge you to immediately release the remaining Coronavirus Relief Funds to all Florida counties, cities, towns.”
In a June letter to DeSantis, the Florida Association of Counties (FAC) and the Florida League of Cities (FLC) requested “this $1.275 billion be earmarked to provide necessary resources to local governments that were not direct beneficiaries of CARES Act dollars.”
Under the FAC and FLC calculations, Florida municipalities that have not received CARES Act money would receive $590 million, counties would receive $430 million and $254 million would be set aside for “contingency purposes.”
According to the Small County Coalition of Florida, 39 mostly rural counties – including 29 already regarded as “fiscally constrained” before the COVID-19 emergency – now face severe budget shortfalls.