New Mexico Higher Education Department: Coronavirus Relief Fund Overview
The New Mexico Higher Education Department, under Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, is providing insight into the Coronavirus Relief Fund and its implications for higher education institutions. The fund, appropriated through the federal CARES Act, aims to cover expenses related to COVID-19 until December 31, 2020. The presentation delves into the state's allocation of $1.25 billion, including funds for local governments, small business relief, tribal governments, and COVID-19 response expenses. Detailed information on eligible expenditures and strategic accounting for efficient fund utilization is also outlined in the overview.
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NEW MEXICO HIGHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM NEW MEXICO GOVERNOR Coronavirus Relief Fund and General Fund Reporting September 18, 2020
Agenda Housekeeping Please mute your microphones Questions can be submitted in the chat box DFA Presentation on Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) Reporting Submission Dates for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) Questions and Answers
Coronavirus Relief Fund Overview
Coronavirus Relief Fund: What is it? Appropriated through the federal CARES Act of March 2020 Covers expenses necessary to mitigate and respond to COVID-19 through December 31, 2020 New Mexico Appropriation $1.25 Billion Albuquerque & Bernalillo County: $182.2 Million State Allocation: $1.067 Billion $100M to Local Governments (except Albuquerque and Bernalillo County) $50M to Small Business Relief $28M to Tribal Governments $139M to FY20 COVID-19 Response Expenses $750M Allocated to the General Fund for FY21 State Government Expenditures (July 1 to December 31)
Coronavirus Relief Fund: State Government The New Mexico Legislature comingled $750 million of CRF with the General Fund for expenditure from July to December 2020. Retroactive Accounting Rather than distributing the CRF separately from agency operating budgets, the CRF was combined with the general fund. Therefore, CRF expense monitoring must be done retroactively by tracking COVID-19 related general fund expenses within agency operating budgets. Comprehensive tracking of COVID expenses will help us make the most of the CRF allocation and limit the general fund impact, especially important given the difficult revenue outlook
Coronavirus Relief Fund: Eligible Expenditures 18 eligible expenditure categories a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. k. l. m. n. o. p. q. r. Administrative Expenses Budgeted Personnel and Services Diverted to a Substantially Different Use COVID-19 Testing and Contact Tracing Economic Support (Other than Small Business, Housing, and Food Assistance) Expenses Associated with the Issuance of Tax Anticipation Notes Facilitating Distance Learning Food Programs Housing Support Improve Telework Capabilities of Public Employees Medical Expenses Nursing Home Assistance Payroll for Public Health and Safety Employees Personal Protective Equipment Public Health Expenses Small Business Assistance Unemployment Benefits Workers Compensation Items Not Listed Above - to include other eligible expenses that are not captured in the available expenditure categories
Public Health and Public Safety Personnel Q: Federal guidance states that the CRF can be used to meet payroll expenses for public safety, public health, health care, human services, and similar employees whose services are substantially dedicated to mitigating or responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency. How does a government determine whether payroll expenses for a given employee satisfy the substantially dedicated condition? A: As a matter of administrative convenience in light of the emergency nature of this program, a State may presume that ALL payroll costs for ALL public health and public safety employees are payments for services substantially dedicated to mitigating or responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Facilitating Distance Learning Two buckets of distance learning expenditures 1. DO REPORT: Technological expenses to facilitate remote instruction/learning Laptops, subscriptions, licenses, additional IT maintenance and support, etc 2. DO NOT REPORT: Portion of faculty/staff time diverted to a substantially different use due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. o While this is considered an eligible expenditure, DFA is still waiting for clarification from the federal government regarding the implementation/execution of this provision. More guidance to come in the following weeks/months.
Coronavirus Relief Fund: Reporting The New Mexico Department of Finance & Administration reports on behalf of the state
Coronavirus Relief Fund: Reporting Federal government requires quite a bit of information Example: Contracts >$50k Contractor/vendor DUNS # Contract Number Contract date, type, amount, and description Primary place of contract performance Period of performance start date/end date Quarterly expenditure amount
Additional Resources NACUBO Some information is free content, other requires member log in: https://www.nacubo.org/ U.S. Department of the Treasury https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/cares/state-and-local-governments Coronavirus Relief Fund Frequently Asked Questions Updated September 2, 2020 (13 pages) https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/Coronavirus-Relief-Fund-Frequently-Asked- Questions.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery Coronavirus Relief Fund Guidance for State, Territorial, Local, and Tribal Governments Updated September 2, 2020 (8 pages) https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/Coronavirus-Relief-Fund-Guidance-for-State-Territorial-Local- and-Tribal-Governments.pdf Internal Revenue Service (IRS) https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/cares-act-coronavirus-relief-fund-frequently-asked-questions U.S. Department of Education https://www.ed.gov/coronavirus?src=feature
CRF Reporting Timeline Q1 (July 1-September 30) reporting to the Federal Government is due October 13. HEIs are requested to submit Q1 General Fund expenditures to HED by October 5
Questions? DFA: Nicole.Macias@state.nm.us Simon.Miller@state.nm.us HED: Debbie.Garcia4@state.nm.us Harrison.Rommel@state.nm.us