Report says, “It’s even harder” to know what the funds were used for.
When Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stability Act in 2020, they also established the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee. A report released to Congress now reveals, “It’s hard to know where pandemic relief money went.” Their report, published on its pandemic oversight website admits, “It’s even harder for us to tell you what it was used for. Government award data is full of dead ends.”
The watchdog report details difficulty in determining how funds are being spent due to federal agencies’ poor reporting and lack of transparency.
In the summary entitled “Dead Ends in Pandemic Relief Award Data,” they wrote, “We looked at 51,000 awards worth $347 billion that supported the pandemic response (as of June 15, 2021). We found more than 15,400 awards worth $33 billion with meaningless descriptions that make it difficult to know how the money was used.”
“Non-specific award descriptions prevent the public, agency management, and policy makers from determining the use of the federal pandemic assistance,” the report said. “A lack of transparency also hampers oversight and accountability efforts.”
The law placed few restrictions on how the relief aid could be spent as long as investments were loosely connected to the effects of the pandemic. The wide latitude has enabled the funding of projects or programs that may be questionable.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For the accountability committee as they endeavor to track the federal pandemic funds that were issued.
- For members of Congress as they address government agencies unable to account for billions in funding.
- For officials in federal agencies to improve record-keeping at every level of government when it comes to taxpayer dollars.
Sources: Just The News, Pro Publica
