Budget, COVID-19 | November 21, 2020

DOF Publishes Second Quarter CARES Act Report

This week, the California Department of Finance (DOF) issued the Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) second quarter report, detailing state and local expenditures incurred responding to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The second quarter report covers expenditures between March 1 and September 30. Recall, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was passed by Congress earlier this year and provided a total of $15.3 billion to California with $9.5 billion allocated directly to the state and $5.8 billion allocated to 15 large counties and five cities with populations over 500,000 residents.

As of September 30, 2020, state and local government recipients reported a total of over $6.4 billion in eligible expenditures ($4 billion) and obligations ($2.4 billion). Compared to the first quarter report, this amount represents an increase of nearly $4 billion. Counties reported approximately 78 percent of their total funding, or more than $1 billion, was spent or obligated. A total of 27 counties reported funds as fully spent or obligated. Cities reported more than 75 percent of their total funding, or more than $377 million, was spent or obligated. All cities provided reports and 343 reported funds as fully spent or obligated.

Of the $4 billion expended through September 2020, the five largest expenditure categories, representing nearly 75 percent of total expenditures, are:

  • Facilitating Distance Learning ($862 million)
  • Payroll for Public Health and Public Safety ($699 million)
  • Personal Protective Equipment ($663 million)
  • Public Health Expenses ($429 million)
  • Budgeted Personnel – Substantially Different Use ($347 million)

DOF also reports that through September 30, costs totaling more than $1.9 billion will be paid or reimbursed with CRF monies. Of this amount, approximately $1.4 billion will be used to pay the state’s cost share for the FEMA Public Assistance Program funding for purchases related to personal protective equipment, medical surge capacity, testing, and emergency operations. The balance will be used to support various COVID-19-related activities, including contact tracing, support for healthcare workers, residential care facilities, senior programs, food banks, and people experiencing homelessness.

DOF will update expenditures and obligations through December 30, 2020, in January 2021 after filing the federal report which is due in early January.

The full second quarter report is available here.