Most of SC’s $2.7B in federal COVID-19 aid is tied up in a state power struggle
South Carolina has received more than $2.7 billion in federal coronavirus aid to help offset costs and financial losses related to fighting and recovering from the virus, including purchasing personal protective equipment, providing assistance with childcare for first responders and essential workers, and more.
But a disagreement over who should have final say over how to dole out a chunk of those dollars has led to concerns that the process could slow down the delivery of those dollars.
The sticking point is over $1.9 billion in federal aid from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, a COVID-19 relief package President Donald Trump signed into law in March to help taxpayers, businesses and states recover in some ways from the virus’ outbreak. More than $792 million in additional aid that also came to the state through the law went directly to state agencies.
Meanwhile, caught up in the disagreement is more than $155 million in state spending targeted to the state’s COVID-19 response and, among others, a provision to allow colleges and state agencies furlough employees, measures that are sitting untouched until the governor signs a bill aimed at funding government past June 30, when the current budget expires.
McMaster has until midnight Monday to line-item veto parts of it or sign it; if he does neither, the bill becomes law.
The behind-the-scenes disagreement over who has the authority to direct how the aid is spent breaks down like this:
On one floor of the State House, the Republican-controlled Legislature says it controls the state’s purse strings. As insurance, in a bill aimed at keeping government operating without a new state budget, lawmakers on Tuesday included a plan to put the $1.9 billion for COVID-19 relief into a separate account and require final spending approval by the General Assembly.
On another floor, the governor’s COVID-19 task force — Accelerate South Carolina, charged with charting a path forward for the state’s reopening and recovery from the COVID-19 outbreak — is near ready to roll out its recommendations on how to spend the aid package.
McMaster is “more than happy” to work with the General Assembly, his spokesman told reporters earlier this week.
Unlike his predecessors, McMaster has enjoyed a mostly positive relationship with especially House leadership, finding many of his budget priorities included in the state’s spending plan, first written and approved by the House.
But, spokesman Brian Symmes said, “the normal budgetary process is one that is not built for rapid delivery of resources.”
“Given how important it is that these funds be distributed quickly, the governor asks that the General Assembly act with urgency and discipline to get this money to those who need it without delay,” Symmes said. “These funds must also be spent in the most transparent way possible. To that end, the governor expects the General Assembly to provide the people of South Carolina a full and clear accounting of every single dollar that is spent.”
McMaster’s advisory group is slated to release a bullet list of recommendations to the governor this month of what they believe the money should be spent on. The full group plans to meet next at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Lawmakers first negotiated having a small joint committee chaired by Senate and House budget chairmen that oversees some state spending projects review the task force’s recommendations. But in the latest deal, the one that passed both chambers, the recommendations now must go before the full General Assembly, a process that runs in some ways similar to North Carolina’s, where the Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper made proposals, and the GOP-controlled Legislature ultimately crafted its own bills and approved the spending, adding even more.
Though the task force hasn’t released specifics on how the aid should be spent, some on the committee have shared ideas.
The Greenville News reported Sen. Ross Turner, R-Greenville, proposed that at least 20% of the relief — about $400 million — go to the state’s unemployment trust fund, the fund paying for unemployment benefits to out-of-work South Carolinians.
State workforce director Dan Ellzey told the group last month the unemployment trust fund was going to run out of money as the state continued to pay out up to $70 million in unemployment benefits each week.
McMaster told reporters on Friday he is concerned about the longevity of the fund.
“We don’t want to put that burden back on the businesses,” he said. “So, that’s a part of Accelerate SC’s plan and objective, is to find a way to, to solve these problems and see that we get business going and we don’t handicap them.”
State agencies and local governments are certainly going to want their say, too.
The state Department of Education — which already has received more than $216 million in grants through Congress to cover COVID-19-related costs that school districts will apply for — plans to ask the Legislature for millions more as the agency works to reopen schools and get students back to learning all across the Palmetto State.
In total, the agency says it needs at least $400 million that’ll help cover, in part, meals that were given out to students over the course of schools closed, devices for students, cleaning facilities and adding another six days to the school calendar.
At the state’s child-welfare agency, to date the Department of Social Services has received more than $63 million in federal money, most of which is for childcare purposes. That money is split into three spending phases, starting with childcare assistance for first responders and essential workers.
But the agency is still likely to need more it expects for protective measures and needs related to DSS’ COVID-19 response.
With so many problems on the surface, McMaster told reporters on Friday now is not the time for “academic arguments.”
“We’re looking forward very much to working with the Legislature,” said McMaster, adding that six House and Senate members sit on his Accelerate SC advisory group and have been “fully involved in everything that’s going on.”
“We expect the work of Accelerate SC, and ... the speaker as well as the chairman of Ways and Means, have said that this will be a vital part of the plan moving forward, and we’re looking forward to that.”
House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Darlington, said the Accelerate SC recommendations will be a blueprint for the House.
“We have always given great weight and deference to Gov. McMaster in setting the priorities for spending in South Carolina and that practice will continue,” Lucas said.
SC money for COVID-19 relief
State spending
▪ $155 million — for coronavirus response
▪ $45 million — for S.C. DHEC’s coronavirus response
▪ $25 million — for the Medical University of South Carolina to assist with statewide testing
▪ $15 million — to ensure safey of voters and poll workers during the June and November elections
Federal spending
▪ $1.9 billion — coronavirus relief fund, to help the state and local governments
▪$48 million — governor’s emergency education relief fund, grants for educational agencies and universities
▪$185 million — higher education emergency relief fund, cover colleges and universities, student relief
▪$216 million — elementary and secondary school relief fund
▪$14.6 million — state and local law enforcement grants, for overtime, protective equipment, hiring, travel expenses and medical needs of inmates in state and county jails
▪$6.3 million — election security grants
▪$1.7 million — emergency management performance grants
▪$2.6 million — emergency food and shelter program
▪$13.5 million — commodity assistance program, for emergency food assistance programs
▪$120.4 million — FTA transit infrastructure grants, for transit infrastructure grants
▪$713,000 — housing program for people with AIDS
▪$22.7 million — community housing fund
▪$22.5 million — homeless assistance grants
▪$26.9 million — low-income home energy assistance
▪$63.6 million — child care and development block grant, to give assistance to child care providers, first responders and essential workers
▪$27.2 million — children and families services program
▪$14 million — ACL-aging and disability services
▪$465,230 — IMLS grants, for libraries and museums to expand digital network access, buy internet devices and provide support
▪$465,100 — National Endowment for the Arts, to offer assistance to arts organizations suffering financial hardships
▪$384,144 — health care provider reimbursements
▪$1 million — Ryan White HIV/ADS program
▪$3.8 million — hospital preparedness program
SOURCE: S.C. DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION, as of April 28
