Democrats Allege Ducey Improperly Used Millions in Federal Pandemic Relief Money
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey directed millions in federal pandemic relief funds to finance operations at state agencies, and local Democrats are accusing him of misusing the funds.
As part of the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that Congress passed last spring to keep the economy on life support after pandemic-induced economic shutdowns, Arizona received $2.82 billion for local and state governments, according to a recent report from the state Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC). Those funds were intended to cover costs incurred during the pandemic, according to guidelines provided by the U.S. Department of Treasury.
Of the $1.86 billion that went to the state of Arizona, $397 million went to reimburse spending from the general fund, while $5 million financed Department of Public Safety and Arizona Department of Transportation, according to the JLBC report. The rest of the money was issued to a variety of recipients, including $441 million for small local governments, $150 million for the Arizona Express Pay Program, $14 million to the Department of Health Services for Personal Protective Equipment, $9 million for the Secretary of State's COVID-19 response and election operations, and $370 million for public school districts and charter schools through the Enrollment Stability Grant Program. (Out of the state's total $2.82 billion CARES Act allocation, another $965 million went to local governments with populations over 500,000, such as Maricopa County, the city of Phoenix, and Tucson.)
Similarly, an August JLBC report noted that while the state was originally expected to have a $190 million budget deficit at the end of 2020 (due to the pandemic), JLBC staff now expect that the state will close out the year with a $377 million surplus — a roughly $500 million shift. An estimated $319 million of that is attributed to "lower-than-expected spending," primarily due to the "use of COVID-relief federal funds to offset existing General Fund spending." The spending "occurred mostly in the Department of Corrections and the Department of Health Services," the report states.
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