Arizona Could Lose Relief Funds for Undermining Mask Mandates

NY Times via MSN ^ | 10/05/21 | Alan Rappeport

[Libloather]

WASHINGTON - The Biden administration warned Arizona on Tuesday that it could lose some of its state and local recovery funds because it has been using money meant to combat the pandemic to undercut mask requirements in schools.

In a letter to Arizona’s Republican governor, Doug Ducey, the Treasury Department said the state was misusing the money, which was intended to help local governments bolster public health measures. As part of the $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package that Congress passed earlier this year, states and cities were awarded $350 billion of relief money that they could use for a wide variety of purposes.

However, the funds cannot be used to impose conditions “that would undermine efforts to stop the spread of Covid-19 or discourage compliance with evidence-based solutions for stopping the spread of Covid-19,” Wally Adeyemo, the deputy Treasury secretary, wrote.

Arizona was awarded $4.2 billion from the fund and has received about half of that so far.

Arizona’s Republican-controlled legislature banned school mask mandates earlier this year, but some school districts imposed them anyway. In August, Mr. Ducey announced that he was rolling out two education programs intended to undercut such requirements.

A $163 million program provides up to $1,800 in additional funding per pupil in public and charter schools. However, these schools must be “following all state laws” and open for in-person instruction. Schools that required masks would not be eligible.

[Libloather]

Sounds like bribes can be taken back. I wonder if Wally has any opinion on the audit.

[Prince of Space]

Maybe we should reduce the amount of money we send to the fed via the IRS. If they’re not going to give us our fair share, then why would we give it to them in the first place?

[Oshkalaboomboom]

Many years ago when we lived in New Hampshire there as a special needs girl whose parents insisted that she be taught in the regular classroom, even though it would take the entire budget for the entire school system to pay for her care. The school said no and the parents sued based on a $1500 grant the school system had received from the Federal government. The Feds agreed with the parents so the school system said they would return the grant money. Not so easy, said the Feds. Every school system in the state that received a grant would also have to return the money or else it would still be enforceable.

Taking money from the Feds is like dealing with the Mafia. It's a lot easier to get in than it is to get out.

[Texas Fossil]

“NY Times via MSN”

Can you think of 2 more credible sources? /sarcasm

But I don’t doubt the Xi-O’Biden regime would do this.

[Zathras]

AZ has been fully open now for 9 months.
Of course we have dead people everywhere /sar

[I want the USA back]

We have state governments, and the federal. The fed doesn’t get to tell the state what to do. That’s what the Constitution says. But the feds don’t like that, and bypass it with the legal fiction (lie) of “we give you money, we can tell you what to do or we take away the money.”