Daily Sitka Sentinel

Sullivan Outlines COVID Relief Bill

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer

Allowing recipients of federal emergency relief funding to use those dollars to replace lost revenue stood out as a high priority for Alaska’s U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan when he spoke by videoconference to the Sitka Assembly Tuesday evening.

Speaking from Anchorage, Sullivan cited a bill that he sponsored along with other senators from both parties, called the Coronavirus Relief Fund Flexibility Act, which would serve as an amendment to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

The other sponsors of the bill are Rhode Island Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski, West Virginia Republican Shelley Moore Capito, Maine Independent Angus King, and North Dakota Republican Kevin Cramer.

“If you have lost revenue related to the pandemic, which I’m sure you have, then that (CARES Act) money should be able to be used to make up for that,” Sullivan told the Assembly.

Assembly member Richard Wein addressed Sitka’s need for federal funding to help with its ability to pay its long-term debt, because local costs related to the pandemic have reduced the amount of revenue needed to meet  those costs.

“Sitka is going to come up short with revenue, and I know the CARES Act cannot replace revenue,” Wein said. “And that’s the importance of refinancing debt and if we’re able to do that then that represents a long-term solution, because if we come up short with revenue, we still have to pay our debt burden, and therefore this is still related to COVID as anything else.”

He stressed to Sullivan the importance of Sitka’s ability to pay its debts, especially those incurred by long-term debt for its hydroelectric bonds.

Sullivan replied that this new bill “would help our boroughs and municipalities this year – so it isn’t long-term use that CARES Act money that the state got, $1.3 billion to use... for revenue replacement if it was impacted by the pandemic. Which most revenue losses unfortunately in our state, because our tourism and other things, have been directly impacted.”

The text of Sullivan’s flexibility bill reads that states, tribes, and local governments may use CARES Act funds that are spent on “necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to COVID-19 during the period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on December 31, 2020; or are necessary to replace state or government revenue shortfalls resulting from COVID–19 during the period.”

Assembly member Valorie Nelson said that many of the economic impacts of the virus may be felt only in the longer term.

“The fallout may not even be known as far off as the next year or the year after. We are, more than most communities, a seasonal employer, and people are hurting,” Nelson said.

In his presentation to the Assembly, Sullivan also spoke about his hopes for prolonging the forgiveness period for Paycheck Protection Program loans, stabilizing the price of oil, and increasing Coast Guard presence in the state.