Thread by @AKHouseMajority

HAPPENING NOW: The House Finance Committee is hearing an update on how funding approved through the federal CARES Act can be spent to help Alaskans impacted by COVID-19.

LIVESTREAM ➝ akl.tv #akleg

This document is the basis of today's presentation by the Legislative Finance Division and provides a summary of funding available to Alaskans through the CARES Act:

akleg.gov/basis/get_docu… #akleg

And here's a copy of Legislative Finance Director Pat Pitney's presentation:

akleg.gov/basis/get_docu… #akleg

Some items of interest for Alaska:

- $1,200 payment, plus $500 per dependent children, directly to Alaskans
- Emergency grants for small businesses, public radio
- REAL ID deadline delayed to 2021
- Health plans required to cover COVID-19 testing #akleg

Here's a list of federal funds that organizations in Alaska may qualify for:

One important question is whether money from the CARES Act can be used to cancel out the governor's recent budget vetoes. Here's what the federal law says about that. #akleg

Because of federal and state actions, a family of four in Alaska earning less than $60,000/year won't lose income in the short term if they receive unemployment benefits. #akleg

The only official guidance released by the federal government so far suggests that the $1.25 billion allocated to Alaska through the Corona Relief Fund can only be used for unanticipated expenses related to COVID-19 preparation, mitigation, and response. #akleg

According to the Legislative Legal Division, one of three things needs to happen before CARES Act funding can actually be directed to specific programs in Alaska:

1. #akleg reconvenes to specifically approve providing money to qualifying programs and services [1/x]

2. #akgov can look through existing budgets to find open-ended receipt authority that allows appropriations on specific programs

3. the administration can submit a request to the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee to allow spending on qualifying programs and services [2/x]

Here's some background on the Revised Program Legislative (RPL) Process being discussed now, which is how the third option to get CARES Act funding out to programs and services would work. [3/x]

akleg.gov/basis/get_docu… #akleg