Care Subfund In The General Fund

The state received $1.67 billion from the federal coronavirus relief fund created in the federal "Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020" (CARES Act), and the governor allocated $70 million of these federal funds to the general fund for further allocation by the general assembly for any permissible uses under the CARES Act. The state controller set aside this money in a special account, known as the care subfund.

The act codifies the care subfund (subfund) in the general fund and reiterates the requirement that the money in the subfund can only be used as permitted under the CARES Act. Any state department that receives an appropriation from the subfund is required to comply with any reporting and record-keeping requirements established by the state controller or the office of state planning and budgeting. Any money transferred from the care subfund to another cash fund is subject to the same reporting and record-keeping requirements. Any appropriations from the subfund are excluded from the base for purposes of calculating the state reserve for fiscal year 2020-21.

The act requires any unexpended amounts before the close of business on December 30, 2020, to revert to the subfund and the state treasurer is directed to transfer such amount to the unemployment compensation fund, which is a permissible use of the federal funds. If as of that date, there is any unexpended money that originated from the care subfund in another cash fund, then the state treasurer shall transfer the unexpended amount from the cash fund to the subfund prior to the transfer to the unemployment compensation fund.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)