Ducey Tries Again to Play Games with COVID-19 Relief Money, Feds Say No You Don't
You may recall that this summer Arizona Governor Doug Ducey tried to take federal money intended for COVID-19 relief and spend it on tax cuts for the wealthy. Because of course he did. That's the way he rolls.
The feds said no. The Arizona Attorney General sued, because ensuring that money is spent for the purpose intended by Congress is somehow unconstitutional. Naturally, he lost.
A responsible leader would take that as a sign and spend money within guidelines. But not Ducey!
He hatched a new plan to misspend relief money. He would distribute it to schools only if they complied with his public illness orders by not requiring students to wear masks. There was a separate plan to give families $7000 each to move their kids from schools that require masks to ones that don't.
This is, of course, the exact opposite of what public health considerations—not to mention common sense—say he should have done. Now the Treasury Department has been forced to step in again. They're reminding the governor that the funds can only be used to combat the virus, not to enable it.
They're giving Ducey 30 days to change or end the programs. Otherwise they will take back the approximately $170 million he plans to spend on them.
All I can say is, thank God there are adults in the room. I'm anticipating a new misspending plan any day now, and we'll need them to smack that one down as well.
Image by Corona-zona
