From the Texas Tribune: Texas has $2 billion in COVID relief funds left to spend. Advocacy groups are anxiously watching.

A great example of cooperative federalism.

A few other items to note in this article: 

- Texas Agriculture Commissioner
- Texas Governor
- US Department of the Treasury
- Department of State Health Services
- Texas Division of Emergency Management
- legislative leaders
- state agencies
- housing advocacy groups
- Texas Housers
- cities

- Click here for the article.

With only two weeks before the funding expires, Texas’ state government still hasn’t spent about a quarter of the $8 billion it received from the federal coronavirus relief bill.

In March, the U.S. Department of the Treasury assigned $11.24 billion to local and state governments in Texas. Almost a third of that went directly to cities and counties with more than 500,000 people, which have been quick to use it for a wide range of measures, from rent assistance programs to temperature checks at city offices. The state distributed $1.85 billion to smaller jurisdictions and has been distributing the remaining $8 billion through its health, education and emergency agencies, among others.

The funds can pay for expenses incurred only until Dec. 30, according to federal guidelines. Gov. Greg Abbott’s office said that it will use the money by that deadline but would not give details on how.

“Governor Abbott has worked closely with legislative leaders and state agencies to allocate $6 billion so far, including an estimated $1.6 billion for [the Department of State Health Services] and [Texas Division of Emergency Management] to fund the state’s response through the end of the year,” said Renae Eze, a spokesperson for Gov. Greg Abbott, in a statement. “With $2 billion remaining of the original funding, the state will spend every dollar by the end of the year to ensure the health and well-being of all Texans.”

Unless the federal government decides to extend the Dec. 30 deadline, unspent funds will have to be returned to the Department of Treasury.