The Legislative Budget and Audit Committee approved Federal CARES Act funding for Alaskan communities and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. They agreed to the approval on Monday night. The federal funding had been allocated by Governor Mike Dunleavy after being sent to the state.
Governor Dunleavy discussed the decision in a Tuesday statement: “I would like to thank the Alaska Legislature for acting yesterday evening to approve the distribution of over $1 billion to communities, businesses, non-profits, and individuals impacted by the economic hardships caused by COVID 19. This is an extraordinary time in our state and my team worked expeditiously to get these critical relief funds disbursed.”
The Governor has expressed his frustration about the funding not being approved by the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee in a more timely fashion. On May 1, Governor Dunleavy discussed a scenario in-which the money could be held even longer: “The chances of this money getting out quickly to assist municipalities and businesses and individuals, that becomes a problem because the process takes a long time. This is one of the reasons why our understanding is that Congress sent it to the state governments through the Governors. We may be waiting quite some time for this money to get to the intended groups, and every day that goes by is problematic.”
The criticisms of the state legislature continued, with the Governor taking to social media to discuss the topic as recently as Friday, May 8.
Full details about the allocation of funds was previously reported by KSRM and can be found by clicking here.