Blog, September 2021

Private Equity-Backed Companies Added to List of Unnecessary CARES Act Recipients

By Katie Furtado
September 17, 2021
A new report from three government watchdog groups reveals a stunning figure: companies controlled by private equity firms received approximately $5.3 billion in federal CARES Act funding. Sadly, PE portfolios are not the only beneficiaries with deep pockets that got money from a relief package that was supposed to help small, struggling businesses and keep workers on the job.

Big Bucks, Vague Rules: States Fail to Disclose their CARES Act Spending

By Katie Furtado
September 2, 2021

Samford University in Alabama.

As part of the $2.2 trillion pandemic relief CARES Act enacted in spring 2020, states received $150 billion in general assistance via the Coronavirus Relief Fund. Within limits tied to the pandemic, the Relief Fund is meant to be flexible, and allowing states, U.S. territories, and tribal governments to direct money where it is most needed.

In exchange for the money – no state got less than $1.25 billion – governments are required to document how they are spending it. Unfortunately, the rules governing that disclosure are very vague, and many states are failing to disclose their uses.