02/01/2021
State
Auditor Nicole Galloway today released her eighth monthly report detailing
state government's use of federal stimulus dollars intended for the COVID-19
response. In March, Auditor Galloway announced that her office would examine
the state's distribution and spending of funding received under the CARES Act
and other federal assistance programs recently passed by Congress.
The
most recent report shows Missouri's spending of federal assistance for the
month of December, as well as the cumulative expenditures since the state began
receiving funding in April. Through Dec. 31, 2020, Missouri has received $3.275
billion and spent $2.26 billion of this assistance. In December, the state
spent $310.9 million.
In
early December, the legislature passed and the Governor signed a supplemental
appropriations bill to spend an additional $1.27 billion in additional CARES
Act funds available to the state.
A significant portion of
the expenditures to date were for services through the state's Medicaid
program, MO HealthNet and other programs receiving federal matching funds ($482
million), and funding passed through to counties and the City of St. Louis
($521 million). Other funding has been provided to schools, institutions of
higher education, child care providers, long-term care facilities, and
developmental disabilities waiver providers; and used for food and nutrition
programs, mental health services, purchase of personal protective equipment,
virus testing, contact tracing, workforce development, economic development
programs for small businesses, COVID-19 dedicated personnel costs, and other
disaster relief purposes. The state returned the $250 million previously
borrowed for cash management purposes back to the state's stimulus fund in
December, plus interest earned on the money of $957,214.
In
addition to the monthly report examining the state's spending, the Auditor's
Office also has an online tool to give Missourians a detailed look at
expenditures. The COVID-19 Response
page tracks not only how much is received and
expended in relief funds, but also lists which state and local government
departments, vendors and expense categories are receiving the most funding. The
information on the website provides data on expenditures and is updated
regularly.
Auditor
Galloway's efforts are similar to work performed by
the previous State Auditor's administration,
which reviewed the state's use of funds received through the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Under Article
IV, Section 13 of the Missouri Constitution, the State
Auditor has a duty to ensure the accuracy of the state's accounting of its
spending.
A
copy of the report on Missouri spending of federal assistance can be found here.
