The Kansas State Finance Council has approved about $290 million for the third round of CARES Act funding.
Kansas officials have determined, based on a SPARK survey, that they would like to emphasize three different areas during the third round of CARES Act funding.
Tami Robison, Riley County budget and finance officer, says the three areas are public health with an emphasis on testing, business resiliency and workforce support with an emphasis on child supervision and essential needs and services with an emphasis on housing stability.
“They do have potentially $105 million max allocated to public health, $120 million max allocated to essential needs and services and $65 million max to business resiliency and workforce support,” Robison said during a meeting that included Pottawatomie and Riley County and City of Manhattan commissioners Thursday.
According to Robison, officials also intend to establish reserve funds for each program.
The amount for each program includes reserve funds worth from about $20 million to just over $30 million. However, Robison says reserve funds can be used elsewhere depending on areas of demand.
“These funds will provide child supervision for parents with school-age children to ensure they can keep working, reduce evictions, and provide tools to help slow the spread of COVID-19,” Gov. Laura Kelly said in a press release announcing the approval of the funds. “I commend the SPARK taskforce and the State Finance Council, who crafted and approved these recommendations that will strongly support Kansans’ health and keep our state on the path economic recovery.”
The application process for these programs will begin on Oct. 1.
