The CARES Act was enacted by Congress on March 27, 2020 and provided Massachusetts with a total of $2.7 billion for expenditures related to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Under federal guidelines, CARES Act funding for state entities may only be used to cover costs that:
- Are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to COVID–19;
- Were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020 for the State or government; and
- Were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020 and ends on December 31, 2021.
The Office of the State Auditor is performing audits of state entities that have received CARES Act funds to ensure their spending is appropriate under federal COVID-19 relief guidelines. Public trust demands that we provide an honest and unvarnished assessment of the appropriateness and effectiveness of the Commonwealth’s spending of CARES Act allocations and other pandemic-related relief.