After a new batch of allocations, the state has about $363.9 million left of its share of the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF). As I briefly noted last week, according to the Office of Program Research (OPR), it’s possible the state could use some of the remainder to backfill the rainy day fund.

EHB 2965 was signed by the governor on March 17. The bill appropriated $175 million from the budget stabilization account (BSA, or the rainy day fund) for response to the novel coronavirus. Another $25 million from the BSA went into a new “COVID-19 unemployment account” to reimburse the unemployment trust fund for approved unemployment benefits paid.

The CRF may only be used for necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency that were not accounted for in the most recently enacted state budget (approved as of March 27) and that are incurred between March 1, 2020 and December 30, 2020.

It’s not clear how much of this $200 million from the BSA are eligible expenditures that could be reimbursed by the CRF. Many of the allocations from the BSA were for expenditures that would be allowed under the CRF rules. If the state instead uses CRF dollars for those expenditures, it frees up BSA funds that could be used to address the budget shortfall. (As I’ve noted, the shortfall is looking smaller and smaller.)

But, OFM has not yet announced whether they will allocate any CRF funds to backfill the BSA. The most recent allocations are:

• $24.0 million to purchase 64,000 computers to “enable students and staff to participate in distance learning, required due to the COVID-19 pandemic, during the 2020-21 school year.”
• $13.2 million for COVID-19 testing requirements in nursing homes.
• $9.8 million for a pilot Eviction Resolution Program that will be established in Snohomish, King, Pierce, Thurston, Clark, Yakima, and Spokane counties. The program “will resolve disputes involving non-payment of rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
• $3.0 million for the Department of Health’s “ongoing media campaign related to the prevention of the spread of COVID-19.”
• $1.5 million for the Office of Public Defense “to pay for COVID-19 technology costs and personal protective equipment for constitutionally required public defense attorneys.”

With these allocations, the state has spent $1.803 billion of its $2.167 billion from the CRF. (Click on the chart for the underlying data and more information.)