As part of the CARES Act last year, the federal government established the coronavirus relief fund (CRF) to provide fairly flexible funding to states and some local governments, for expenses related to the pandemic. The funds must be used for costs incurred by the end of calendar year 2021.

The state of Washington received $2.167 billion from the CRF. After the money was received last year, the Office of Financial Management (OFM) began allocating it through the unanticipated receipts process, as the Legislature was not in session. Then, during the 2021 session, the Legislature acted to appropriate more CRF funds.

We have been tracking how the state is spending this money. The chart below shows where the money is going; I’ve updated it to include legislative appropriations. (Click on the chart to open a spreadsheet with the underlying data and more information.) Altogether, the state has allocated $2.033 billion of its share of the CRF. The state has about six months to spend the remaining $134 million.

Sec. 753 of the operating budget (ESSB 5092) appropriates $280 million from the CRF to OFM “for allotment to state agencies for costs eligible to be paid from the coronavirus relief fund . . . and where funding is provided elsewhere in this act for those costs using a funding source other than the coronavirus relief fund.” Further, “In determining the use of amounts appropriated in this section, the office of financial management shall prioritize the preservation of state general fund moneys and federal state fiscal recovery fund moneys.” This $280 million is not included in my estimate that $2.033 billion has been allocated. Essentially, the Legislature gave OFM room to spend down the remainder of the state’s CRF share by the deadline and the ability to determine whether any enacted appropriations from other accounts might qualify for CRF funding (which is subject to federal rules).