CARES ACT

CRF Tracking 11-24 Final

On March 27, 2020 the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act was signed in to law. This act provided $2.2 trillion for first responders and hospitals to combat COVID-19 as well as aid to stimulate the economy. The law provided relief to tribal governments by providing:

• $8 billion relief fund for tribal governments and tribally owned entities for expenditures incurred during the COVID 19 pandemic
• $1.032 billion for supplemental appropriations to the Indian Health Service
• $453 million to the Bureau of Indian Affairs
• Access to forgivable loans for tribal businesses of less than 500 employees
• Access to more than $425 billion in loans and loan guarantees for all tribal businesses

The CARES Act also provided rules on how the Coronavirus Relief fund could be spent. The monies must be spent within the following guidance:

• Must be a necessary expenditure incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to COVID-19
• Expenditure was not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020
• Expenditure was incurred during the period of March 1, 2020 through December 30, 2020

The U.S. Department of Treasury was tasked with distributing the dollars and providing additional guidance on how the monies can be used. The following link provides additional guidance.  https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/cares/state-and-local-governments

The Oneida Business Committee also adopted resolution 06-10-20-B that sets forth an internal process for the use of CARES Act COVID-19 Relief funds. This resolution can be found on the Nation’s website located at https://oneida-nsn.gov/government/business-committee/resolutions/#2020

Of the $8 billion of Coronavirus relief funds, the Oneida Nation has received a total of $61,445,623.79.

First distribution received on May 7, 2020	$39,664,067.01
Second distribution received on June 15, 2020	$16,553,983.15
Third distribution received on June 19, 2020	$5,227,573.63

The bar graph below shows how the Oneida Nation has spent CARES funding to date.

 

The sections below depict the expenditures the Nation has dispersed from the Coronavirus Relief funds. The sections will be updated to reflect the Nation’s expenditures.