Billions of New Jersey’s federal COVID-19 funding has yet to be spent
More than $5 billion in funds the federal government gave New Jersey for COVID-19 relief in 2021 has yet to be spent, a report from the state’s auditor found.
In May 2021, New Jersey received $6.24 billion through the U.S. Department of Treasury’s State Fiscal Recovery Funds. Of that, $1.1 billion has been spent, according to an informational report from the state auditor, David Kaschak. The remaining money has been allocated but not spent.
The report, which was shared with the state’s legislative leadership and the executive director of the Office of Legislative Services, does not audit whether the funds were well allocated; rather, it is simply a tally of the money spent so far.
Pennsylvania also received almost $7.3 billion through the American Recovery Plan, according to the state Office of the Budget. The state Department of Treasury did not say how much of that has been spent, and the state’s auditor said it does not have the authority to audit federal funds before they have been used. The Treasury Department said it issued more than $195 billion in state COVID-19 recovery funds as of 2022.
—The Philadelphia Inquirer
Florida’s six-week abortion ban complicates DeSantis’ general election pitch
Ron DeSantis’ approval late Thursday of a bill banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy is, to many political analysts, undoubtedly good politics in a GOP presidential primary.
Some are much more skeptical about the general election. The Florida governor’s embrace of the abortion-rights restriction is part of a broader move from DeSantis this year to stake out far-reaching positions on traditional culture war issues, including on guns and, potentially, immigration.
And it’s led some political strategists to question whether a candidate who regularly boasts about his electability as he talks to Republicans across the country might be harming himself in a general election.
“He is clearly on the right side of the primary politics,” said Mac Stipanovich, a DeSantis critic and longtime GOP operative in the state. “And he’s clearly on the wrong side of the national politics.”
—McClatchy Washington Bureau
‘I am a racist’: Daniel Perry wrote, shared trove of racist, anti-protester messages
DALLAS — Newly unsealed court documents reveal Daniel Perry, who was convicted of murdering a Black Lives Matter protester, talked of killing people and shared racist memes over social media.
A Travis County judge unsealed the documents as the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles considers an unusual request from Gov. Greg Abbott to pardon Perry, an Army sergeant.
Perry’s posts included messages like “Black Lives Matter is racist to white people...It is official I am racist because I do not agree with people acting like monkeys.” And in 2019, Perry wrote it was “to (sic) bad we can’t get paid for hunting Muslims in Europe.”
Perry was found guilty by a jury April 7 for killing an armed protester at a Black Lives Matter march in Austin in 2020. Perry, who also worked as an Uber driver, came across demonstrators in his car and fatally shot 28-year-old Garrett Foster, who was attending the protest with his fiancée. Foster was carrying an AK-47, which is legal. Perry, 33, has not been sentenced yet.
—The Dallas Morning News
Biden ends Ireland tour with speech on 'fierce' ancestry pride
DUBLIN — U.S. president Joe Biden's historic tour of Ireland ended with an emotional day during which he spoke of his "fierce pride in our Irish ancestry".
Biden made a passionate public speech in Ballina, Mayo County, on Friday evening in front of a crowd of thousands — where he described the relationship between the U.S. and Ireland as "united by history, heritage and hope".
The president said his trip to the town "feels like coming home" and told spectators millions of Americans claim to have Irish heritage, adding: "More would if they could."
After landing at Ireland West Airport in the afternoon, the president broke down during a visit to Knock shrine following a chance meeting with Friar Frank O'Grady, the priest who gave the last rites to the president's son Beau Biden before he died of brain cancer in 2015.
—dpa
