State seeks extension for spending federal stimulus money

CASPER – Wyoming leaders are hoping for more money from the federal government as Congress remains gridlocked over an additional round of stimulus funding. 

The state is working to spend the remainder of the $1.25 billion in federal relief granted earlier this year before its Dec. 30 deadline. 

Still, Wyoming leaders are hoping for more time to spend the money. 

Simultaneously, they are looking for additional funds to help bolster the state amid a structural decline in revenues driven by woes in the extractive energies. 

The feeling is a common one. Earlier this week, the National Governors Association released two reports outlining a common need among state and local leaders from around the nation. 

The group called on Congress to implement several key measures — including the replacement of lost revenues — in an upcoming stimulus package. 

“Dec. 30 is not when we stop our response to COVID, and some valuable tools have not been accessible to us,” said Renny Mackay, senior policy adviser for Gov. Mark Gordon. 

The solution to those problems, according to a wide-ranging survey of state and local governments released Tuesday by the Government Finance Officers Association, is simple: States need more flexibility in spending those dollars. While 62% advocated for the direct replacement of lost revenues, a plurality of the 22 states who responded to the survey found the restrictions on the use of those relief funds to be the “biggest challenge” in spending their allocation from the federal government.

With a decline in revenues from a struggling fossil fuel sector and a lagging investment portfolio, Wyoming would likely have been unable to afford to pay any resulting penalties should something have gone wrong. 

To prevent a future with fewer federal dollars coming into Wyoming, the state was essentially forced to give local governments fewer options on how to spend the money. 

Wyoming ran into similar issues as other states, bound to comply to rigid guidelines outlined by the U.S. Department of Treasury at the risk of facing those penalties. 

That, in turn, led to some stress for local governments in figuring out how they could appropriate their shares of those funds, Mackay said. 

“The state is the one that has to be on the hook for how the money is spent by the entities that we give money to,” he said. “So I think that definitely created a challenge.” 

For now, the state will likely have to work with what it is given. Gordon’s office has broad authority to reappropriate the nearly $320 million in funds that remained from that pool of money as of Sept. 30. 

However, the needs that the pandemic could present in the winter months and into 2021 leave the state hoping for either an extension or for Congress to come to an agreement on some form of stimulus. 

Meanwhile, the money set aside by the Legislature for various business relief funds is beginning to dwindle. 

While nationwide, nearly 90% of coronavirus relief funds have already been allocated, according to a recent survey by National Governor’s Association, Wyoming’s challenge is not unique. According to that same report, 71% of states would like to see an extension to spend their remaining funds beyond Dec. 30. 

“As states have long stated, they need the flexibility to cover lost revenue with CRF funds,” the report reads. “Without a new package of state stabilization funding, it is critically important that states be permitted to spend these dollars into 2021 — with more flexibility to direct those funds where they are needed most.” 

When that will happen is an open question: Efforts to broker a bipartisan deal between President Donald Trump and House Democratic leadership to this point have gone nowhere. Meanwhile, Congress has remained at a standstill. 

On Wednesday, the Senate failed to achieve a 60-vote majority required to pass a “skinny” stimulus package onto the House, with the package lacking a significant olive branch to state and local governments but providing a large grant to small business owners around the country. 

“This package would have provided real relief for folks across the country, like providing more funding for the Paycheck Protection Program and supporting childcare providers,” Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi said in a statement after Wednesday’s vote. “It’s disappointing that the Senate cannot come together and move forward on ideas that I think both sides support. The American people are looking to us for help and all we are delivering is stagnation. I hope we can get to work to provide the assistance needed to weather this pandemic before our constituents and the economy suffer even more.”