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(Graphic Illustration/MetroCreative)
CHARLESTON — The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee wants to see federal authorities involved in determining whether Gov. Jim Justice’s use of dollars meant for coronavirus reimbursements for non-COVID uses is appropriate.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, wrote a letter Monday to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General seeking a review of the state’s use of more than $28 million in remaining dollars from the Coronavirus Aid Relief, and Economic Security (C.A.R.E.S.) Act.
“Please (consider) this an inquiry as to whether West Virginia Governor, Jim Justice, grossly misappropriated, and misused $28,375,985.43 (C.A.R.E.S.) funding provided to the State of West Virginia on non-COVID related expenses such that it would violate federal law/regulation, violate ethics standards, or would be subject to claw back at some time in the future for improper application,” Tarr wrote.
The $28 million in question was transferred to a special revenue fund controlled by the Governor last September prior to a federal deadline to appropriate those funds. The use of some of those funds for Marshall University’s new baseball field has raised eyebrows with lawmakers. The Senate Finance Committee held a budget hearing in February on Justice’s recommended supplemental appropriations and the spending of remaining C.A.R.E.S. Act funds.
Congress put $150 billion in the C.A.R.E.S. Act in March 2020 for state and local governments, with West Virginia receiving $1.25 billion. The funding can only be used for necessary coronavirus expenditures incurred during the emergency, expenses that were not already accounted for in state and local budgets and incurred after March 1 through the end of last September.
Any remaining unappropriated money had to be returned to the federal government by a Sept. 30 deadline. The state had $28.4 million in remaining C.A.R.E.S. Act dollars. According to the State Auditor’s Office, that money was transferred to the Governor’s Office Gifts, Grants, and Donations Fund, a special revenue fund.
Of that $28 million, $10 million of the remaining C.A.R.E.S. Act funding transferred to that fund was used in combination with a $3.8 million economic enhancement grant from the state Water Development Authority for Marshall University’s baseball stadium project.
In committee testimony, Governor’s Office General Counsel Berkeley Bentley claimed that the $28.4 million was used to reimburse COVID expenses by the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, freeing up $28.4 million to be transferred to the Gifts, Grants, and Donations Fund. The Bailey Glasser law firm and consulting firm BDO provided the legal guidance to the state.
In his letter, Tarr accused the Governor’s Office of doing an end run around the U.S. Treasury Department’s C.A.R.E.S. Act rules and the Legislature’s power of the purse.
“The refunds to the WV Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation were either already accounted for in the budget … or previously reimbursed from (C.A.R.E.S.) Act funds,” Tarr wrote. “Hence the Governor converted at least more than $10,000,000 funds received from the (C.A.R.E.S.) Act to giveaways not even remotely related to COVID-19 and claimed it as reimbursement for Department of Corrections expenses that had previously been reimbursed. Given this information, is federal investigation warranted?”
Tarr also copied the West Virginia Ethics Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia on the letter. A statement from C.J. Harvey, press secretary for the Governor’s Office, called the allegations in the letter baseless.
“This letter is simply a regurgitation of old news,” Harvey said. “Unfortunately, Senator Tarr can’t let it go. The Governor’s Office firmly believes that all transactions involving the use of CARES Act funds were legal and appropriate. Decisions on the use of funds were made with the advice of legal counsel and two national CPA firms, including one who completed an independent audit and found no issues.”
Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com
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