Legislators representing Marin say the Newsom administration has moved too slowly to share federal coronavirus relief funds with smaller counties and cities.
“It’s sitting there and the state needs to get it out the door,” said U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, a Democrat who lives in San Rafael. “They’ve been slow on issuing the guidance and the whole process. I’m sure it’s very frustrating, especially for counties.”
The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act sent $150 billion directly to state and large local governments nationwide to cover costs related to the contagion. California received $9.8 billion, and cities and counties in the state with more than 500,000 residents got about $5.8 billion.
However, jurisdictions with smaller populations, such as Marin County, did not receive a direct allocation from the federal government. They are counting on the state sharing some of its $9.8 billion to help cover their pandemic costs.
“We need to get this money to Marin and other small counties,” said Assemblyman Marc Levine, a Democrat who lives in Greenbrae. “This holdup is unacceptable.”
State Sen. Mike McGuire criticized the 500,000-population threshold.
“The virus doesn’t discriminate based on population size,” said McGuire, a Democrat who lives in Healdsburg. “Smaller cities and counties like Marin need just as much help responding to the crushing needs of the coronavirus and digging out from its financial impacts.”
According to McGuire, attorneys for the state maintain that it has complete latitude on where the federal funds are invested. On Tuesday, McGuire and Assemblyman Jim Wood, a Democrat from Santa Rosa, sent a letter to the governor asking him to “expeditiously distribute a portion of those funds directly to the smaller local governments.” Fifty legislators signed the letter.
Huffman said the money was given to the state with the understanding that it would allocate money to smaller counties and municipalities. He said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin insisted on channeling it through the state to reduce the complexity of administering the program.
Only six of 482 California cities have received any money directly, and only 16 of the state’s 58 counties received a portion of the allocation.
“We’ve had far too many pronouncements from Sacramento that just haven’t been realized,” said Levine, one of the legislators who signed the letter to Newsom. “I’d like the administration to slow down and get the important things right. That means pushing money to local governments that can provide services more effectively at the local level than the state can.”
The governor’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Marin County expects to spend about $8 million by the end of May on direct costs due to the coronavirus emergency. Since early March, the county has incurred about $2.6 million in costs related to its Emergency Operations Center and short-term housing procurement. County staffers estimate the emergency center’s daily operations will cost an additional $2.3 million through the end of May.
The county has also set aside about $3.1 million to create an alternative care site in the event of a surge of COVID-19 patients coming from Marin’s long-term care centers. If that site is activated, an additional $3.3 million could be required to operate it, depending on the number of patients.
In addition to the $8 million in direct costs, the county has allocated $1 million in general fund money to match grants from the Marin Community Foundation to provide rental assistance and food to low-income Marin residents during the crisis.
“While we have had tremendous success locally and regionally in ‘flattening the curve,’ it has also been at tremendous local cost,” said Supervisor Katie Rice, president of the Board of Supervisors. “Early and unprecedented effort has saved many lives, but the county has shouldered an unsustainable burden with its mandate to protect the health of the public at large.”
County Administrator Matthew Hymel has assured supervisors that most of the county’s spending on the coronavirus crisis will be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Budget Manager Bret Uppendahl said money from the federal relief bill comes with fewer governmental strictures on its use and requirements for matching funds.
Marin County finance managers have projected general fund shortfalls for the next five years increasing from $7 million to $11 million in fiscal 2020-21 to between $20.7 million and $55.6 million by fiscal 2024-25.
Huffman said Democrats in the House of Representatives are still pushing hard for additional money to help state and local governments deal with the economic fallout from the pandemic.
“The real need now is to address revenue loss,” Huffman said. “This is something that is going to hit both state and local government in a big way.”
Getting that funding approved may become increasingly difficult. Huffman said that the initial bipartisan response to funding coronavirus relief seems to have eroded.
“Mitch McConnell suggesting that states should just declare bankruptcy, calling it a blue-state bailout,” Huffman said of the Senate majority leader. “These bogus narratives that we have thrifty red states and wasteful and inefficient blue states. This bears no relation to reality.”
Nevertheless, Huffman said he remains optimistic about the chances of additional federal relief funding.
“There are a lot of Republicans that represent states and localities that are getting hammered, and they know better,” he said.
