Pence tells governors money for coronavirus costs is coming
Vice President Mike Pence, center, with, from left, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Robert Redfield, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health Anthony Fauci, White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, Pence, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Seema Verma, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn, speaks to reporters in the Brady press briefing room of the White House, Monday, March 2, 2020, in Washington.[AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta]
The Trump administration on Monday reassured governors that they will be reimbursed for at least some of the costs of responding to the spread of the coronavirus, as several states began setting aside millions of dollars to head off a public health crisis.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Vice President Mike Pence addressed state needs for equipment and funding to fight the spread of the coronavirus during a call with governors. He told them the administration would find the money to reimburse them.
"What the vice president is envisioning as a former governor is ‘Look, you guys need to be able to combat this thing. So you guys do what you’ve got to do. We will appropriate money and then simply reimburse you on the back end,’" DeSantis, a Republican, said at a news conference in Miami after confirming two people had been tested positive in Florida.
Coronavirus cases have topped 100 in the U.S. and have spread to nearly a dozen states. Of those, six cases have been fatal, all in Washington state.
In Congress, bipartisan negotiations are nearly complete on $7 billion to $8 billion in emergency funding to battle the virus, according to both Democratic and GOP aides. The measure appears on track to be unveiled as early as Tuesday, and the hope is to speed it quickly through both House and Senate by the end of the week.
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The measure would finance both federal and state response efforts, fund the federal government’s drive to develop and produce a vaccine, and offer Small Business Administration disaster loans to help businesses affected by coronavirus concerns.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, said he hopes Congress will pass the measure within the next 10 days.
"We are going to fight for the money that is necessary to be effective and stop this disease from becoming a pandemic," he said.
State officials say they need the money for a wide array of expenses, including protective gear, housing and transporting those under quarantine, overtime for medical workers performing lab tests and public information campaigns.
Health officials in Washington state say they have already spent $3.5 million in response. The state’s Secretary of Health John Wiesman asked state lawmakers Monday for an additional $100 million for the budget year that ends in July 2021 so that the state’s public health system can adequately respond to the number of cases of coronavirus in the state.
Coronavirus cases have topped 100 in the U.S. and have spread to nearly a dozen states. Of those, six cases have been fatal, all in Washington state.
In Congress, bipartisan negotiations are nearly complete on $7 billion to $8 billion in emergency funding to battle the virus, according to both Democratic and GOP aides. The measure appears on track to be unveiled as early as Tuesday, and the hope is to speed it quickly through both House and Senate by the end of the week.
The measure would finance both federal and state response efforts, fund the federal government’s drive to develop and produce a vaccine, and offer Small Business Administration disaster loans to help businesses affected by coronavirus concerns.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, said he hopes Congress will pass the measure within the next 10 days.
"We are going to fight for the money that is necessary to be effective and stop this disease from becoming a pandemic," he said.
State officials say they need the money for a wide array of expenses, including protective gear, housing and transporting those under quarantine, overtime for medical workers performing lab tests and public information campaigns.
Health officials in Washington state say they have already spent $3.5 million in response. The state’s Secretary of Health John Wiesman asked state lawmakers Monday for an additional $100 million for the budget year that ends in July 2021 so that the state’s public health system can adequately respond to the number of cases of coronavirus in the state.