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Highlights of GAO-24-106152: COVID-19 Relief Funds: State Experiences Could Inform Future Federal Relief Funding

Summary

Highlights page of GAO-24-106152, a November 2023 report to congressional committees titled "COVID-19 Relief Funds: State Experiences Could Inform Future Federal Relief Funding." GAO notes the federal government provided over $4.6 trillion to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and reviewed plans for eight states: California, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington. Budget office staff described staff capacity challenges, delayed or changed guidance, communication and technical assistance needs, and reporting requirements. GAO identified experiences that could inform future federal relief, such as leveraging pre-existing programs and expertise and establishing new units and processes for relief funds.

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“Highlights of GAO-24-106152: COVID-19 Relief Funds: State Experiences Could Inform Future Federal Relief Funding.” Original at www.gao.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/highlights-of-gao-24-106152-covid-19-relief-funds-state-experiences-co-1b3bf396d8/, SHA-256 a8366751829916c2106c819920792a86491df35eeb134c6cb8be44838534728e.

Full text

                                             November 2023

                                             COVID-19 RELIEF FUNDS
                                             State Experiences Could Inform Future Federal Relief
                                             Funding
Highlights of GAO-24-106152, a report to
congressional committees




Why GAO Did This Study                       What GAO Found
The federal government provided over         Budget office staff in eight states told GAO they worked with state legislatures,
$4.6 trillion to help the nation respond     agencies, and other stakeholders to plan the use of COVID-19 relief funds. While
to the COVID-19 pandemic. A                  budget staff said state legislatures typically were responsible for appropriating
substantial portion of that amount went      the funds, some legislatures allowed state officials to make or change plans
to state governments, which had to           when the legislatures were not in session. Budget staff in selected states said
manage the influx of federal relief and      they were generally responsible for implementing newly created programs, while
quickly determine priorities to respond      state agencies implemented pre-existing programs. Staff also said they used
to the public health and economic            existing structures and processes to implement the funds, such as those for
emergency.
                                             natural disasters or reimbursement. According to state auditors, selected states
The CARES Act includes a provision           used existing processes to mitigate fraud and improper payments.
for GAO to conduct monitoring and
oversight of the use of funds made           State budget staff told GAO they used a variety of actions to address challenges
available to prepare for, respond to,        when planning, using, and reporting on the COVID-19 relief funds.
and recover from the COVID-19                •   Staff capacity challenges. Budget staff hired and reassigned staff, worked
pandemic. This report describes (1)              with officials in state agencies, and used contractors to address capacity
how selected states planned for, used,           challenges with using COVID-19 relief funds.
and reported on COVID-19 relief funds;
(2) challenges selected states               •   Timing of funding and guidance. Budget staff said that when additional
experienced in using COVID-19 relief             COVID-19 relief funding was provided or guidance on allowable uses was
funds and any actions taken to address           delayed or changed, they waited to use these funds or substituted other
those challenges; and (3) how the                funds with overlapping allowable uses.
experiences of the selected states
could inform future federal relief           •   Communication and technical assistance challenges. Budget staff said
funding.                                         that federal agency officials addressed questions on program guidance and
                                                 the need for technical assistance by increasing information sharing and
This report is part of a series of reports
                                                 working with national organizations representing states.
on COVID-19 relief funds to the states.
GAO reviewed previously issued               •   Compliance with reporting requirements. Budget staff leveraged existing
reports on individual COVID-19 relief            reporting systems or developed new systems to allow them to meet reporting
programs. GAO also interviewed                   deadlines, address changes to reporting requirements, or provide data they
federal agency officials who                     had not previously collected.
implemented COVID-19 relief
programs that received $10 billion or        GAO identified several experiences from the selected states that could inform
more for Tribes, states, localities, and     future federal relief.
U.S. territories.
                                             •   Leveraging pre-existing programs. Budget staff in some states said they
GAO reviewed plans for the use of the            were often able to use funding for existing programs more efficiently by using
COVID-19 relief funds for eight                  existing structures and processes. However, staff also noted that new, more
states—California, Florida, Illinois,            flexible programs were key to addressing the pandemic’s unique challenges.
Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania,
Texas, and Washington—and                    •   Leveraging existing expertise and processes. States leveraged staff
interviewed staff from state budget              expertise and processes from implementing previous significant federal
offices and auditor offices. GAO                 funding, such as from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,
selected these states based on total             to plan and use the COVID-19 relief funds. Additionally, some states said
COVID-19 relief funding, population              their staff experience and capacity with the funds grew over time.
size, and geographic region.
                                             •   Establishing new units and processes for federal relief funds. Budget
View GAO-24-106152. For more information,        staff said they established specific units and processes for COVID-19 relief
contact Jeff Arkin at (202) 512-6806 or
arkinj@gao.gov.
                                                 funds. They plan to leverage these units and processes for future federal
                                                 relief funds.
                                                                                     United States Government Accountability Office

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