Biden Administration Retreats on Threat to Withhold Arizona Relief Funds

Dayanara Ramirez, a Treasury spokeswoman, declined to explain why the funds had been released after the department threatened to withhold them.

“Treasury does not comment on matters in its compliance process,” Ms. Ramirez said.

The Treasury Department said the funds were disbursed through the standard process that the Office of Recovery Programs has established to make second-tranche payments.

The dispute over the funds began after Arizona’s Republican-controlled Legislature banned school mask mandates in 2021, but some school districts imposed them anyway. In August, Mr. Ducey announced that he was rolling out two education programs intended to undercut such requirements.

One of the programs, which received $163 million in federal funds, provided up to $1,800 in additional funding per pupil in public and charter schools that were in compliance with “all state laws” and open for in-person instruction. Schools that required masks would not be eligible.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/15/business/arizona-pandemic-aid-mask-mandates.html