RI House Oversight Committee to Review Emergency COVID-19 Spending By Raimondo Administration
Monday, November 16, 2020
The House Committee on Oversight is scheduled to meet Thursday to hear a report on how the state has spent emergency funds in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last week, GoLocal reported Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo’s administration has overestimated the cost of testing for the coronavirus by more than $150 million and conducted far fewer tests than promised, according to a GoLocal Investigation.
In May, the House Finance Committee considered coronavirus budget costs provided to the legislature by the Raimondo administration, and the Governor’s fiscal team budgeted $150 million for testing during the remainder of fiscal year 2020 and for all of 2021 — a sixteen month period.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBy August, Raimondo’s $150 million testing cost ballooned to $216.7 million according to a memorandum sent by Raimondo’s Jonathan Womer, Director of the Office of Management & Budget.
Now, a GoLocal investigation has found that in the first eight months the state has spent less than $30 million of the $216.7 million budgeted to cover 16 months of testing. And, if the present testing spending continues for the remained of the fiscal year -- the total testing cost will be approximately $60 million or $150 million less than Raimondo's budget costs.
“Roughly 460,000 tests have been processed by labs contracting with the State, or RIDOH’s State Health Laboratories,” said RI Department of Health spokesperson Joseph Wendelken.
“$14.5 million has been spent on lab contracts. A total of $29.7 million has been spent on testing as a whole. This includes money to support all the infrastructure around testing,” said Wendelken.
The committee will meet Thursday, Nov. 19, from 3 to 5 p.m. in the House Lounge on the second floor of the State House. It is expected to be the first of two meetings that will delve into the handling of the COVID crisis.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, included $339.8 billion in funding for state and local governments. Overall, RI received $1.25 billion.
“It’s time to get back to the business of lawmaking,” said Speaker of the House-elect K. Joseph Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick). “With this year’s budget still looming over us, and COVID-related legislation to consider, it’s imperative that the legislative branch get a handle on how the emergency funds have been spent as well as the process that led to current pandemic policy.”
The committee will hear a presentation by Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, director of the Department of Health, who will review emergency spending on the COVID-19 response at nursing homes, hospitals and other congregate care settings. She will also discuss the decision-making process that led to Executive Order 20-95 issued on Nov. 5, which included stay-at-home advisories, further travel restrictions, and further limitations on social gatherings. She is also expected to discuss any future potential restrictions due to the spread of COVID-19.
Rep. Patricia Serpa (D-Dist. 27, West Warwick, Coventry, Warwick), chairwoman of the House Oversight Committee, said she is eager to take a close look at how COVID emergency money has been spent.
“Checks and balances are a fundamental part of our government,” she said. “While the governor may have done an admirable job in dealing with this crisis, it’s time for the Oversight Committee to come back and delve into everything that’s been done up to this point, especially how the emergency funding has been spent.”
The State House remains closed to the public due to the pandemic. The meeting will be televised live on Capitol Television, which can be seen on Cox Channels 15 and 61, in high definition on Cox Channel 1013, on Full Channel on Channel 15 and on Channel 34 by Verizon subscribers. It will also be live streamed at http://ritv.devosvideo.com/show?video=cd679c40105a.
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