LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Just last week the General Assembly
created the COVID-19 fund to allow the governor to address holes in the budget
because of the coronavirus, and he’s putting it to use today.
Today Governor Asa Hutchinson announced that $45 million
dollars from that fund will go towards the procurement of more PPE for nurses,
doctors, and first responders.
The governor also said the state will be getting $1.2
billion dollars in federal money to help mitigate costs due to COVID-19.
Now Arkansas cannot use this as a budget hole filler, but it
must be used for COVID-19 specific items such as, PPE, ventilators, things of
that nature and the governor has put together a 15 person steering committee to
help recommend how to spend that.
“We have to allocate those funds in advance in order to be able to get in the supply chain and we’re looking at not just what we need tomorrow and 30 days but we have to look at what we need 60 days down the road,” said Governor Asa Hutchinson.
Now they don’t believe they will get all that money at once, but it must be allocated within 30 days and will last until the end of the year.
The State Parks also announced several items. They are closing all visitor centers, bathhouses, museums, lodges, and only limiting campgrounds to RVs. They are moving to a contactless check-in system for campgrounds. They say it’s good to be out, but to just maintain social distancing.
