Sitting on loads of cash, governor wants more pandemic relief funding

By Mark Lisheron

Few Americans question the physical and mental toll taken by COVID-19 and the government response to it. But when elected officials complain that they have so much federal emergency money that they won’t be able to spend it all on time, shouldn’t we ask what happened to the $8.4 billion when they come asking for $500 million more?

Gov. Tony Evers has added the $500 million to his 2023-25 budget to address a “burgeoning crisis” in mental and behavioral health, particularly among our children, created by the impact of the pandemic. In his State of the State address, he declared 2023 the Year of Mental Health.

However, there is little in the state’s own records of allocation and spending of more than its $8.4 billion share of CARES Act, the American Rescue Plan Act and the Investment and Jobs Act that suggests recognition of a “burgeoning crisis” in mental and behavioral health.

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