Press Release  AG Healey Calls on Congress to Extend CARES Act Funding Through 2021 As COVID-19 Pandemic Continues

BOSTON — Attorney General Maura Healey today joined a coalition of attorneys general representing 43 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories in calling on Congress to extend CARES Act funding through the end of 2021 as the COVID-19 public health crisis continues to cause financial hardship for families in Massachusetts and across the country. 

In a letter sent to Congressional leaders, the coalition urged members to extend the time for communities to utilize relief funding available through the CARES Act past the current December 30, 2020 deadline. The CARES Act provided more than $2 trillion in stimulus funds to state and local governments to offset the costs of the unprecedented pandemic including record unemployment and evictions.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated nearly every aspect of life in Massachusetts from record job losses and housing, to health care, food insecurity and education – and the virus is still spreading,” AG Healey said. “This public health crisis and its effects will not be resolved by the end of the year. We need the federal government to step up and extend this deadline to provide additional relief to state and local governments.”

The attorneys general argue that the deadline may have made sense in late March when the CARES Act was originally passed, but the pandemic is continuing to harm local and state economies as case numbers continue to rise daily across the country. The letter specifically calls for a one-year extension of the deadline. The updated HEROES Act passed by the U.S House of Representatives in October extended the deadline and provided additional financial assistance to state and local governments but was not acted on by the Senate.

Positive case numbers in Massachusetts are continuing to rise. As of Sunday, November 29, Massachusetts had nearly 44,000 active cases of COVID-19 and a seven-day average positivity rate of 3.8 percent. The state had more than 1,000 COVID-19 patients hospitalized. The state had a 7.7 percent unemployment rate in October, eight points above the national rate of 6.9 percent. The pandemic has caused more than one million residents in the state to be food insecure.

Joining AG Healey in sending the letter are the attorneys general of Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Visit AG Healey’s COVID-19 resource page for information about how the AG’s Office can provide support during this crisis. 

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