Less than two weeks before a use-it-or-lose-it deadline to spend $554 million in federal pandemic relief funds, details about how the money has been disbursed or allocated in Orange County, California, remain unclear.
The county was given the $554 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds on March 27 and has until Dec. 30 to spend it, or it must return the money to the federal government. The funds were intended to protect the American people “from the public health and economic impacts of COVID-19,” according to the U.S. Department of Treasury.
