States and Cities Plead for More Time to Spend Federal Covid Aid
Local governments are using stimulus funds for safety-net needs like rental and food aid. With demand surging, they’re scrambling to spend it before the deadline.
Local governments have used stimulus funds for food assistance, among other growing needs. As demand surges, they are asking Congress to extend a deadline that requires them to allocate the money by year’s end.
Photographer: Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
States and municipalities are calling for an extension of a year-end deadline to spend federal pandemic aid as demand surges for government assistance amid the worsening pandemic.
As part of the Cares Act in March, Congress sent $150 billion to states, large cities and counties for unbudgeted costs related to the pandemic. Those funds must be used for expenses incurred by Dec. 30, according to the Treasury Department. But state and local officials are lobbying for an extension to give government agencies and nonprofits that received the money more time to spend it, a step they say is crucial with the outlook for additional aid uncertain.