Gov. Mark Gordon has created a page on the “Wyoming Sense” state spending transparency website outlining how the state is using federal dollars awarded through federal coronavirus relief.
As of Thursday, Gordon has allocated more than $710 million of the $1.25 billion in federal funds Wyoming was provided by Congress to address the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
During a special legislative session in May, the Wyoming Legislature provided guidelines as to how that money should be spent, splitting the funds into three disbursements.
The first amounted to $450 million and was made available for allocation on May 25.
The second amounted to $400 million and was made available for allocation on July 15.
The third will amount to another $400 million and won’t become eligible for allocation until Sept. 15.
The CARES Act spending page breaks down spending into nine categories:
- Economic/business relief ($327.3 million);
- Education resilience ($110.5 million);
- Broadband and communications infrastructure ($100 million);
- Testing and contact tracing ($60 million);
- Unemployment and Workers Compensation ($42.2 million);
- Local governments ($35.9 million);
- Eviction prevention and support ($15 million);
- State agencies’ COVID response ($12.2 million);
- Judicial and legislative branches ($7 million).
The page, https://www.wyomingsense.gov/cares-act, includes additional details on each category, along with helpful links and additional resources. It will be updated regularly as additional funds are allocated.
