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2021 Special Session I

Budget Amendments - SB1100 (Committee Approved)

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Joint Subcommittee for Federal Relief Funds Oversight (language only)

Item 479.10 #3s

Item 479.10 #3s

Central Appropriations
Central Appropriations

Language

Page 579, after line 7, insert:

"I.1. There is hereby created a Joint Subcommittee for Federal Relief Funds Oversight of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees to review, provide advice to the Governor and provide oversight of federal funds provided to the Commonwealth in response to the Coronavirus Pandemic whereby discretion is provided to the state on how such funds shall be allocated, hereby known as "federal relief funds". The joint subcommittee shall consist of eight members, including the Chair of the House Appropriations Committee and three members of the House Appropriations Committee selected by the Chair, the Chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee and three members of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee selected by the Chair. The Secretaries of Finance, Commerce and Trade, Health and Human Resources, and Public Safety and Homeland Security shall also be available to provide technical assistance to the joint subcommittee. The joint subcommittee shall be staffed by staff from the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees.

2. The joint subcommittee shall work with the Governor to consider and examine all currently allocated and potential uses of federal relief funds in providing assistance to state agencies, institutions of higher education, local governments, private non-profit or for-profit businesses, and citizens of the Commonwealth that have been negatively impacted economically due to the effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic. The joint subcommittee shall make recommendations, consistent with the requirements of federal law and any federal regulations or guidance, to the Governor for his consideration. The Governor shall, within 10 days of the enactment of this Act, provide information to the joint subcommittee on previous allocations of federal relief funds, expenditures to date, current unexpended allocations, and requests under consideration.

3. Prior to the allocation or appropriation of federal relief funds, the Governor shall submit his proposal or proposed allocation to the joint subcommittee, which shall review and make recommendations on such proposals to the Governor within 15 days. The Governor shall notify the Chairs of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee and the House Appropriations Committee in writing within five days concerning his final decision to appropriate and allocate federal relief funds having previously been considered by the joint subcommittee."



Explanation

(This amendment establishes a Joint Subcommittee for Federal Relief Funds Oversight to allow the General Assembly to provide oversight of the substantial federal relief funds the federal government has been providing to the state in response to the Coronavirus Pandemic. The Joint Subcommittee would review proposed allocations of funding and make appropriate recommendations to the Governor, however the Governor would make the final decision on how the funds should be allocated. The Joint Subcommittee provides an opportunity for the General Assembly to provide input into the process for allocating federal relief funds and to provide oversight of how such funding is expended.)