With a possible lawsuit looming, Gov. Doug Ducey on Wednesday, May 27, finally let go of some of the federal cash he got for local communities, including money for Prescott, Prescott Valley and Chino Valley.
But not all of what could have been released.
In fact, Ducey is allocating only $441 million, a quarter of the more than $1.9 billion he is getting in coronavirus relief dollars. Most of the rest, he said, will be set aside for future needs of the state, including the possibility of replenishing the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund if it runs dry.
The move comes two weeks after the Pinal County Board of Supervisors voted to file suit to force Ducey to let go of the cash.
Strictly speaking, the plan was to sue not the governor but the Department of the Treasury for the wording of its written guidance for distributing Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funds.