Charleston, WV - West Virginia Democratic Party Chair, Mike Pushkin, criticized Governor Jim Justice and his administration for mishandling COVID-19 relief funds that now threatens to blow a $450 million hole in the state budget. Pushkin's remarks come on the heels of disturbing revelations from the House Finance Committee Chair that the state may have to repay up to $450 million in COVID relief funds.
"Today, Finance Chairman Criss attempted to deflect blame by stating, 'It's nothing that we did wrong ... it's the fact that these rules came out after the money, rather than having the strings attached so we knew ahead of time.' However, Chairman Criss blatantly ignores the critical report from the Performance Evaluation and Research Division of the Legislative Auditor's office, released last November," Pushkin stated. That report highlighted significant failings in the West Virginia Department of Education's ability to monitor the use of federal emergency education funds by local school districts, leading to an increased risk of fraud, waste, and abuse.
"The audit uncovered the state didn't provide for necessary staff to ensure proper oversight," Pushkin added. "The audit also found that millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds were misspent due to this lack of oversight. They can try to shift the blame, but the Justice administration failed in its duty to provide proper guidance and oversight of these funds."
Pushkin accused the administration of using these funds to falsely inflate its budget surplus, stating, "The Justice administration used these funds to artificially inflate our budget surplus. Now that ruse has been exposed. Now we know why the Senate and House Leadership are working so hard to pass SB 687 to take over the Legislative Auditor's office and to do away with independent, peer reviewed auditing standards. This is precisely why independent audits matter."
"Don't let them pass the buck," Pushkin added, "this is a farce of their making and is a direct result of the Governor's lack of focus caused by the collapse of his business empire."
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