A lot of attention has been focused on Congressional efforts to stabilize the economy through the $2.1 trillion CARES ACT. As part of that act and an subsequent allocation, $610 billion has been set aside to help companies keep their employees off the unemployment rolls and their businesses operational through a program called Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
The loans are forgivable, provided the funds are used for certain expenditures such as payroll, utilities and rent.
There is another funding effort that has, until now, received far less attention — a $340 billion allocation to help states recover from the impact of COVID-19. This money can only be used to cover costs incurred because of the virus. It can’t be used to help the state, cities or counties cover lost tax revenue, which — in Mississippi – dwarfs the costs associated with fighting COVID-19.
Mississippi’s share of the pie comes to $1.25 billion and there’s a fight brewing over who will decide where that money goes. Gov. Tate Reeves has said he has the authority to disperse those funds. The Legislature, scheduled to resume the 2020 session on May 18, disagrees and may reconvene soon — perhaps as early as Monday — to pass legislation that would give the Legislature the authority to disperses the funds. Right now, leaders in both chambers are counting heads to see if they will have enough votes not only the pass that legislation, but to override the Governor’s veto that is sure to come.
But the bigger question is how much of that $1.25 billion the state will be able to spend regardless of who gets to decide how those funds are dispersed.
Although we have no estimate of how much the state has spent on combating the virus, it’s likely the spending has been a fraction of the money allocated.
Under this “use or lose it” scenario, this represents a real opportunity to use every penny to protect the health of Mississippians.
One of the best uses of that money would be greatly expanding COVID-19 testing. As of now, only people who are showing symptoms of the virus are eligible to be tested, even though medical experts say there are many people who contract the virus without showing symptoms. In a very real sense, these undiagnosed carriers are the biggest threat to public health because they can pass along the virus without anyone knowing.
Many scientists, including those at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, say expanded testing must go hand-in-hand with efforts to relax social distancing. It’s important that we put systems in place now to ensure the outbreak in Mississippi doesn’t worsen.
We believe testing should be ramped up on a massive scale — starting with testing every person who is in a confined setting in close proximity to others. Every nursing home resident should be tested, as well as every incarcerated person. As of today, fewer than 100 people in the Mississippi Department of Corrections, including staff, has been tested.
There are close to 19,000 people currently being held in our state’s jails and prisons, people who — because of their confinement — cannot be self-quarantined or take other measures to avoid contracting the virus.
Once those people have been tested, funds should be used to provide widespread testing for asymptomatic people.
The governor and the Legislature can squabble over who gets to disperse that money.
But for the reset of us, it’s more important that the funds be used efficiently and exclusively to help make us safer.
If, at the end of this, the balance sheet doesn’t show a zero, our state has missed an opportunity to prevent sickness and death.
That’s what we should be focused on, isn’t it?
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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