States, like Alaska, with few virus cases get big share of relief aid

States, like Alaska, with few virus cases get big share of relief aid

The least-populated states in the U.S. scored big when Congress pumped out direct federal aid.

  • By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press
  • Tuesday, May 5, 2020 11:16am
  • News

By GEOFF MULVIHILL

Associated Press

Alaska, Hawaii, Montana and Wyoming are among the least-populated states in the U.S., and not surprisingly have the lowest numbers of residents who have tested positive for the new coronavirus. But despite their small size, they scored big this spring when Congress pumped out direct federal aid to the states.

An Associated Press analysis shows those four, along with other small states, took in an out-sized proportion of the $150 billion in federal money that was designed to address coronavirus-related expenses, when measured by the number of positive tests for the COVID-19 disease.

Their haul ranged from $2 million per positive test in Hawaii to nearly $3.4 million per test in Alaska. In Wyoming, the smallest state with less than 600 positive cases, the $1.25 billion it received from the congressional package equates to 80 percent of its annual general state budget.

By comparison, New York and New Jersey, by far the hardest-hit states, respectively received about $24,000 and $27,000 per positive coronavirus test. Other states with high numbers of coronavirus cases, including Massachusetts, Michigan and Illinois, received less than $100,000 per positive case.

The money for state governments is a slice of a $2.2 trillion federal stimulus passed in late March. Governments are supposed to use it for new, coronavirus expenses incurred from March 1 through Dec. 30.

Under federal guidelines issued last month, the money has to be linked to coronavirus-related expenses but cannot be used, for example, to make up for lost tax revenue to keep general government services running.

“I wish New Jersey had a low impact … and was hit not the second-most in the country, but the second-least,” said Steve Sweeney, the Democratic state Senate president in New Jersey. “We’d give the money to somebody else.”

To be sure, the lowest population states often receive higher dollar amounts per capita when Congress doles out federal aid to every state. That’s due in part to political reality: Small states have the same number of U.S. senators as more populous ones, and those senators lobby hard for their states’ interests.

The awards in the relief act passed in late March were based on population, but with a catch: Every state was to receive at least $1.25 billion, regardless of its size. Lawmakers said setting such a minimum was needed to reach a deal in a divided government.

But in the coronavirus fight, the disproportionate share going to the smaller states has consequences. States with high numbers of cases and deaths say they need that federal money for immediate expenses related to fighting an outbreak that threatened to overwhelm their hospital systems, from staff overtime to setting up makeshift hospitals.

Some of the states with relatively few cases have been able to reopen their economies at a quicker pace and have more options on how to spend the federal largess. Many of them are now trying to determine how they can spend the windfall while keeping within the federal guidelines.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, a Republican, is proposing using a portion of the money for direct help for businesses that have suffered because of government-imposed shutdowns and shrunken demand. Other parts of the federal aid are already aimed at individuals and businesses.

Gordon said his plan to help businesses should be fair game under the federal rules in part because neighboring Idaho — which received more than $600,000 per positive test — already has a similar system in place.

In a public meeting streamed on video, Gordon said he knew the state would be watched carefully. After all, the state’s allocation is five times per capita what New York received and nearly 90 times as much per positive coronavirus test.

“There will be unduly high scrutiny on how Wyoming uses those funds,” Gordon said.

Max D’Donofrio, spokesman for Republican Sen. Mike Enzi, defended the state’s share, saying Wyoming “is often the target of per capita biases due to its low population,” and faces unique challenges because of its rural nature.

Hawaii’s tourism industry was halted as the virus was spreading, and the financial consequences are dire. Gov. David Ige aid the state’s share was “sorely needed.”

Other smaller states are considering dividing up chunks of the federal money among local governments and businesses, in addition to covering the state’s health expenses. That’s the preliminary plan in Alaska.

West Virginia has the seventh-lowest number of coronavirus cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but received just over $1 million per positive test. It has not determined how to use the money beyond medical expenses. Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican, has said he hopes the federal government will allow the state to use the relief money to alleviate its growing budget shortfall, even though federal guidance on the bill suggests that would not be allowed.

New York doesn’t have the luxury of trying to use the money to help cover a massive drop in tax revenue,

While it received billions of federal dollars for coronavirus-related expenses, it has received no money to help offset the loss of more than $13 billion in revenue, said Freeman Klopott, spokesman for the state budget division. The state is now considering $10 billion in cuts.

“New York State has been the epicenter of the pandemic and unfortunately has been home to about one-third of all U.S. COVID-19 related deaths, and federal funding provided so far has failed to recognize this reality,” Klopott said in a statement to the AP.

New York and other states with high numbers of cases have been lobbying for Congress to provide more direct aid to state and local governments in a future coronavirus relief package.

Sens. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, and Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, are proposing $500 billion more for state and local governments. Under their plan, the first one-third of the money would be allocated based on population, the second on the number of coronavirus cases and the third on the toll it’s taken on government budgets.

Under their proposal, every state again would receive at least $1.25 billion — and this time with looser restrictions on how the money could be spent.

Menendez said the baseline amount was a nod to political reality: “We need to get 60 votes in the Senate.”

• This is an Associated Press report.

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast for the week of March 25

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

An employee works on the deck of an Alaska Marine Highway System vessel in a photo used by AMHS on social media to advertise jobs openings during the summer of 2023. (Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities photo)
Crew shortages continue to limit AMHS operations, likely to keep Kennicott idle again this summer

Situation improved from a year ago, but wheelhouse employees and engineers still a crucial need.

The Captain Cook, one of two tour boats formerly operated by Adventure Bound Alaska, in Aurora Harbor prior to a scheduled sealed-bid auction for vessels that has been extended until April 10. (City and Borough of Juneau)
Auction of Adventure Bound boats gets delay, big minimum bid increase due to liens

Two vessels from troubled tour company now selling for several times the original listed bids.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Tuesday, March 26, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

The aging Tustumena ferry, long designated for replacement, arrives in Homer after spending the day in Seldovia in this 2010 photo. (Homer News file photo)
Feds OK most of state’s revised transportation plan, but ferry and other projects again rejected

Governor’s use of ferry revenue instead of state funds to match federal grants a sticking point.

The Shopper’s Lot is among two of downtown Juneau’s three per-hour parking lots where the cash payments boxes are missing due to vandalism this winter. But as of Wednesday people can use the free ParkSmarter app to make payments by phone. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Pay-by-phone parking for downtown Juneau debuts with few reported complaints

App for hourly lots part of series of technology upgrades coming to city’s parking facilities.

A towering Lutz spruce, center, in the Chugach National Forest is about to be hoisted by a crane Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, for transport to the West Lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to be the 2015 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service)
Tongass National Forest selected to provide 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

Eight to 10 candidate trees will be evaluated, with winner taking “whistlestop tour” to D.C.

Annauk Olin, holding her daugher Tulġuna T’aas Olin, and Rochelle Adams pose on March 20, 2024, after giving a presentation on language at the Alaska Just Transition Summit in Juneau. The two, who work together at the Alaska Public Interest Research Group’s Language Access program, hope to compile an Indigenous environmental glossary. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Project seeks to gather Alaska environmental knowledge embedded in Indigenous languages

In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska, the word… Continue reading

The room where the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee holds its meeting sits empty on Tuesday. A presentation about an increase in the number of inmate deaths in state custody was abruptly canceled here. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Republican lawmakers shut down legislative hearing about deaths in Alaska prisons

Former commissioner: “All this will do, is it will continue to inflame passions of advocacy groups.”

Most Read