COVID-19 Response Spending

Note: The budget letters from the Department of Finance and the response letters from the Joint Legislative Budget Committee are available here.

Specific Spending Plans Announced (Dollars in Millions)

$ 3,047.5: Total spending notified through May 21, 2020
$    804.9: SB 89 Spending (limited to $1 billion)
$    2,242.6: Spending from transfers to Disaster Response - Emergency Operations Account (DREOA)
 

Date Action Amount Description
21-May Emergency Spending Letter $ 1,831.1 Emergency Funds for PPE, Health System Surge, State Operations and Other
    1,291.6 PPE Procurement
    251.7 Hospital and medical system surge staffing and facilities
    159.4 State response operations
    98.4 Testing, contact tracing, and tracking
    30.0 Hotels for healthcare workers and support staff
       
8-May SB 89 Letter #13 - Child Care Funding Revision
      Permits funds previously notified on April 10 (SB 89 Letter #8) to be spent through additional agencies rather than only local Resource & Referral agencies, following an unspecified problem with a particular local agency. No change to overall funding amount. 
       
8-May SB 89 Letter #12 $ 8.6 State Prison COVID-19 Prevention Extension
      Continues for another 30 days the policy announced April 2 (SB 89 Letter #5) to reimburse counties holding inmates in local jails while the state does not accept transfers.
       
8-May SB 89 Letter #11 $ 27.4 Contract Tracing Data, Call Center, and Training
    8.7 Support the development of a virtual training academy with UC San Francisco and UCLA to train up to 20,000 workers for contact tracing efforts.
    18.7 Contract with Accenture and Amazon for a data management platform and contact tracing call center to support local public health agencies in contact tracing.
       
27-Apr Reserve Spending Letter #2 $ 104.7 PPE Contract Payment
      Payment for the first "post-delivery" invoice is expected this week under the PPE contract announced April 7. As of the April 27 letter release, the status and size of the first shipment of masks was unknown.
       
24-Apr Governor Announcement Unknown Emergency Feeding Program
      Provide meals through local government agencies and restaurants to seniors and to others who are at-risk from COVID-19. Costs will be shared by federal (75%), state (19%), and local (6%) governments.
       
15-Apr SB 89 Letter#10 $ 76.3 Funds for Undocumented Immigrants, Foster Families, and Others
    63.3 Direct cash assistance for undocumented immigrants. Grants of $500 per adult would be distributed by nonprofit organizations to an estimated 150,000 adults. (Note that another $16.5 million from the existing 2019-20 budget would also go for this purpose, bringing the total tax-funded assistance to $75 million, plus another $4.8 million for administration and outreach.)
    10.0 State's share of administration costs for the federal Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) cards, which will go to families that would have qualified for free or reduced cost K-12 or after-school meals. $1.2 billion in federal funds (not reflected here) will pay for the actual benefits, which are expected to reach 3.8 million kids.
    1.8 Extend support for non-minor foster care dependents who otherwise would "age out" of the extended foster care system.
    1.2 Provide rate flexibility for foster youth or caregivers who need to respond to COVID-19, such as through isolation or quarantine.
       
13-Apr SB 89 Letter #9 $ 42.6 Foster Care Assistance and Equipment
    27.8 Provide $200 per month for food and other necessities for families with kids who meet criteria for being "at risk" of entry to foster care system
    3.3 Funds to reimburse CalWORKs child care providers and to waive some CalWORKs family fees
    3.0 Provide CalWORKs-related "diversion" cash assistance to individuals with incomes below 200% of federal poverty
    8.5 - Provide additional support to foster caregivers through Family Resource Centers
- Provide cell phones and laptops to foster kids for education ($218,000)
- Pay for outreach and social worker overtime for Child Welfare Services programs
       
10-Apr SB 89 Letter #8 $ 50.0 Child Care Cleaning and Protective Equipment
      Reimburse "non-local education agency child care providers" for gloves, masks, cleaning supplies, and cleaning labor. Funded through the state Dept. of Education.
       
10-Apr SB 89 Letter #7 $ 50.0 Child Care Access for Essential Workers and At-Risk Populations
      Expand child care slots through existing providers, including pop-up locations, for essential workers and at-risk populations. Funded through the state Dept. of Education.
       
7-Apr SB 89 Letter #6 +
Reserve Spending #1
$ 495.0 PPE Contract (half payment) to procure 200 million masks per month for two months.
    $ 188.2 Portion paid under SB 89.
    $ 306.8 Portion paid from reserve funds transfer.
       
2-Apr SB 89 Letter #5 $ 8.7 State Prison COVID-19 Prevention
    5.7 Reimburse counties for not taking inmate transfers from county jails
    3.0 Pay counties for supervising early-release prisoners through existing program
       
2-Apr SB 89 Letter #4 $ 50.0 Expands Small Business Loan Guarantee Program (operated by California Infrastructure Bank) for businesses that will not qualify for federal programs
       
31-Mar SB 89 Letter #3 $ 111.0 Seniors, Food Banks, and County Administration
    41.0 Relocation of senior care facility residents
    20.0 Support food banks and similar organizations
    5.0 Conduct wellness checks for IHSS and other seniors
    24.3 Funds for county CalFresh administration
    8.0 Funds for county CalWORKs administration
    12.7 Funds for county Medi-Cal eligiblity administration
       
20-Mar SB 89 Letter #2 $ 42.0 Hospital capacity, equipment, and transportation
    30.0 Lease Seton and St. Vincent hospitals to expand capacity
    1.4 Expand Dept. of Public Health laboratory in Richmond
    8.6 Purchase and refurbish ventilators and other equipment
    2.0 Contract with AMR for emergency transportation
       
18-Mar SB 89 Letter #1 $ 150.0 Homeless shelter capacity
    100.0 Temporary shelters, services, and supplies
    50.0 Hotels, motels, trailers, and wraparound services

Other Spending (Dollars in Millions)

Date Action Amount Description
21-May DREOA transfer #2 $ 1,831.1 Transfer under existing law to Disaster Response-Emergency Operations Account (DREOA). Origin of the funds is not specified, though Department of Finance indicates sources are generally those identified in the Governor's May Revision proposal
       
10-Apr Informational Letter NA Provides interim budget information on state spending, cash flow, revenues, and federal funds. States intent to spend $7 billion on COVID-19 response in 2020, including previously noticed amounts, for which $5.25 billion in federal reimbursement is expected. Also provides copy of a letter from Gov. Newsom to Speaker Pelosi seeking $1 trillion in additional federal aid for the country overall.
       
1-Apr Executive order Unknown Governor issues order citing authority to spend from any legally available fund to provide surge capacity and medical supplies and equipment
       
25-Mar Reserve transfer 1,300.0 Transfer under existing law from Special fund for Economic Uncertainties (reserve account) to Disaster Response-Emergency Operations Account (DREOA)
       
17-Mar SB 117 signed 100.0 Appropriates $100 million to help schools obtain protective equipment and cleaning supplies. Protects schools from loss of attendance funds due to closure.
       
17-Mar SB 89 signed 1,000.0 Provides $500 million initially with additional $50 million increments available up to a total of $1 billion, subject to 72-hour notice to Joint Legislative Budget Committee