Gov. Ivey responds to Legislature’s desire to control CARES Act money

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statement on May 7 responding to the Alabama Legislature’s desire to have control over the CARES Act money designated to the governors of each state.

Ivey said that she spoke to House General Fund Chairman Steve Clouse (R-Ozark) and told him that she wanted the Legislature to have control over the appropriation of the money.

“Every single penny,” Ivey continued. “I made it clear to Chairman Clouse that this money belongs to the people of Alabama, not the governor, and in my opinion not even the Legislature.

“It comes to us in an emergency appropriation from President (Donald) Trump and Congress to support the ongoing crisis that has killed 349 Alabamians, as of this moment, and wreaked havoc on our state’s economy, ruining small businesses and costing more than 430,000 Alabamians a job they had just a few weeks ago.”

Ivey said that she never desired to control the money but made clear the responsibility this was placing on the Legislature.

“I have never desired to control a single penny of this money and if the Legislature feels so strongly that they should have that authority, I yield to them both the money and the responsibility to make good decisions in the light of day where the people of Alabama know what is happening,” she emphasized. “I promised Chairman Clouse that my Administration will send over to the Legislature the receipts for items such as (personal protective equipment), medical supplies, testing kits and the like; items that have been needed and procured to support our health care system including our hospitals and nursing homes. I trust the Legislature will honor these expenses.”

Ivey also made sure to acknowledge that many organizations – especially schools – would now see a delay on getting emergency funding.

“We have heard from countless cities and counties who are suffering from the effects of this pandemic; we’ve heard from colleges and universities, the K-12 system and a whole host of others who had hoped this money would be made available in a timely fashion,” she said. “Regretfully, because of the Legislature’s decision – at this last moment – these groups will now have to appeal to the 140 members for help.”

Clouse responded to Ivey’s comments exclusively to The Sun and said that Ivey and her office would still hold responsibility in regards to the appropriation of the money.

“She said that she didn’t want (to control) a dime of the money, which is fine, but the governor’s office has a responsibility – and the finance office – to take care of some of these immediate needs that the Legislature can’t do without coming into a special session.

“We appropriated $200 million of the COVID-19 money for her office to take care of such things as (medical) equipment and masks and gloves and tests and those types of things.”

Alabama is set to receive $1.78 billion in federal funding from the CARES Act but Ivey said that she wouldn’t call the Legislature back into a special session unless a detailed plan on where the money is to go is provided to the public.

“I advised Chairman Clouse that I will not call the Legislature back into a special session unless and until they provide the people of Alabama – in advance – a full, detailed and public list of how the money will be spent in exact amounts, down to the penny,” Ivey said. “I have already seen one ‘wish list’ that includes a new $200 million statehouse for the Legislature. To me, that is totally unacceptable and not how President Trump and Congress intended for this money to be spent.

“As everyone knows, we are in the middle of an international health crisis, unlike any we have ever seen. It is both fiscally responsible – and absolutely essential – that the Legislature be transparent on the way they intend to spend the money. In my view, it has always belonged to the people of Alabama.”

Clouse said that the Legislature would handle the appropriation of the money using the same process that it has always used.

“It will be just like a regular legislative appropriation,” he emphasized. “We will certainly want input from the governor’s office and it will be outlined in a deal and be introduced and go through the regular legislative process with debate on the floor and votes on the floor in both houses.

“There will also possibly be a conference committee and then it will be sent to the governor’s office for approval and she can either approve it or veto it.”

Clouse also said that it was the U.S. Constitution that demands the money be appropriated by the Legislature, not he or anyone else in the Alabama Legislature.

“That’s what the constitution says,” he flatly said. “The constitution outlines that appropriations go through the legislative process.

“There are particular grants that come in through the years from different federal agencies – like Medicaid or education grants or the like – that are authorized by the executive branch to allocate to the different agencies, while we aren’t in session. Anything of this nature, though, the constitution states that it must go through the legislative appropriation process.”

Clouse also pushed back on the “wish list” that Ivey mentioned, saying it would never happen.

“That was on some list that somebody was suggesting,” Clouse continued. “My only comment to that would be that it’s not going to happen. It certainly won’t happen with my vote and it wouldn’t happen, period. That’s not going to happen.”

Clouse said that he hopes that the state can get the money to those that need it as quickly as possible but that there are also some other hurdles the Legislature must get over, as well.

“We hope to be able to appropriate the (money) for those that need it to help relieve the pressure that COVID-19 has put on all of our citizens,” he said. “We’ll go through the regular process for that assuming that any of this money will be available.

“Right now the regulations that have been put on states regarding this money is very narrow as far as what it can go towards. Some of the things on that so-called ‘list’ (that Ivey mentioned) wouldn’t even be eligible unless they loosen up some of the regulations. That’s what the issue is going to be going forward and it’s changing daily. We’re going to need more direction from the federal government on what things can and can’t be spent on.”