Washington has received billions of dollars in federal COVID relief funding since the Legislature adjourned last year. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has been tracking the federal relief dollars. They estimate that state and local relief funding for Washington is up to about $6.43 billion. (That includes, for example, the coronavirus relief fund, the enhanced federal Medicaid match, transit grants, and K­–12 funding.)

The Committee has begun incorporating in its tracker funding from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA), which was enacted Dec. 27, 2020. The act does not include any general funding for state and local governments like the coronavirus relief fund (CRF, part of the CARES Act), but it does include many dedicated funding items that will need to be distributed by the state, within parameters established by Congress. Some of the bigger pots of money, for which state allocations have been announced, include:

• Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER II) Fund. Washington will receive $824.9 million, of which at least $742.4 million must go to local school districts. The CARES Act had also included funding for this purpose (ESSER I). From ESSER I, Washington received $216.9 million, of which $195.2 million went to districts.
• Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER II) Fund. Washington will receive $71.7 million. Of that, $46.3 million must go to private schools. From GEER I (CARES Act), Washington received $56.8 million. GEER I funds could be used for K–12 or higher education. Last August, Gov. Inslee opted to allocate the entire amount to public higher education institutions.
• Funding for COVID-19 testing and vaccines. Washington will receive $438.3 million for testing and $68.8 million for vaccines.
• Rental assistance. Funding for rental assistance will be distributed to states and local governments with populations of at least 200,000. According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, governments in Washington will receive $510.2 million. They have not yet announced how that will be split among the state; Benton, Clark, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish, Spokane, Thurston, Whatcom, and Yakima counties; and the cities of Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma. In a presentation to the state Ways & Means Committee on Tuesday, the state Department of Commerce estimated that the state government will be allocated $322 million.

Because the Legislature is now in session, these new federal funds will be distributed through the appropriations process. (As I’ve written, House and Senate Democrats have released their initial plan for distributing some of these funds.) By contract, CARES Act funding (which was enacted in March 2020), was distributed through the state’s unanticipated receipts (UAR) process.

Under the UAR process (RCW 43.79.270 and RCW 43.79.280), when the state receives funds that were unanticipated in the enacted budget, the governor may spend them without an appropriation. According to Senate Committee Services, in 2019–21, UARs have totaled $3.108 billion—significantly higher than normal. For example, in 2017–19, UARs totaled $103.2 million.

The Ways & Means Committee heard two bills, SB 5162 and SB 5316, on Tuesday that would change the UAR process to give the Legislature more input. Here’s a comparison of the two bills from Senate Committee Services. (HB 1163, Rep. Stokesbary’s bill to strengthen the state statute on cash deficits, would also make similar changes to the UAR process.)