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CHARLESTON -- Gov. Jim Justice praised Monday the signing of a $900 billion coronavirus relief package that also extends the use of previous federal dollars for COVID-19 expenses.
"Thank goodness we passed something," Justice said. "We have too many people and too many businesses that are really hurting."
Congress passed a $2.4 trillion omnibus bill Dec. 21 to keep the government funded through the fiscal year, with a $900 billion new coronavirus relief package. Despite releasing a video on social media last week criticizing the two bills, President Donald Trump finally signed both bills Sunday night.
The new coronavirus relief package included $600 direct payments to eligible adults and $600 for every dependent child age 16 or younger in a household; $300 per week in pandemic unemployment benefits for 11 weeks; $284 million for a revamped Paycheck Protection Program for businesses; an extension of the federal eviction moratorium and $25 billion for renter's assistance; and $16 billion for COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, and vaccine distribution.
Trump's decision to sign the bills came after pandemic unemployment benefits expired Saturday -- the day after Christmas -- for more than 14 million people. Trump openly complained that the direct stimulus checks should have been $2,000 instead of $600. He also criticized items included in the omnibus bill, many of which were in a draft version of a budget Trump previously presented to Congress.
Instead of criticizing Trump for the delay in signing the bills, Justice criticized Congress for only now passing a coronavirus relief package after both parties presented competing bills during the summer. Justice also criticized Congress for passing the bill alongside the omnibus bill and a defense spending bill, which Trump vetoed last week. Congress is set to override that veto this week.
"For D.C. and these people -- our senators and congress-people and everything all across our land in D.C. -- don't you just think that we cannot do better than what we're doing," Justice asked. "Why in the world have we had people hurting for so very long? Why in the world do we come up with a bill that's passed and should have been passed forever ago. And why in it do we have all kinds of stuff that has nothing to do with COVID?"
The new coronavirus package includes language extending a federal deadline to spend what remains of the $1.25 billion C.A.R.E.S. Act for state and local reimbursements of coronavirus-related expenses. More than $150 billion was distributed to states back in April through the C.A.R.E.S. Act for state and local COVID-19 expenses that had to be used by the end of 2020.
Justice said the extension will allow the state more opportunities to tap into the remaining funds. According to the State Auditor's Office, more than $737 million of the $1.25 billion is still deposited with the state, though all of the remaining funding has been appropriated, most going towards unemployment benefits and county/local government coronavirus expenses.
"We'll have to pivot now," Justice said. "We had it all set on how we were going to bucket every single dime of that C.A.R.E.S. Act money. Now what we should do is pivot again. We have deep-dive money where we are paying ourselves back. We've got ways now to look at doing additional things going forward, so we pivot again."
Since Trump waited until after the pandemic unemployment benefits expired Saturday to sign the bill extending those benefits, there will be a delay in those benefits going out to unemployed workers who still need them. WorkForce West Virginia said Monday they are still awaiting guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor. Until then, Acting WorkForce West Virginia Commissioner Scott Adkins told eligible claimants to wait before filing a new claim until the new guidance comes down.
"If you are on (Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation) or you are receiving extended benefits, you don't need to do anything at all," Adkins said. "WorkForce will start making those payments. Once the guidance is in place from (the Department of Labor), we'll come back on and share additional information with you, but continue to do your weekly certifications as you would normally do."