Background:
Section 601(a) of the Social Security Act, as added by section 5001 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), established the Coronavirus Relief Fund (Fund) and appropriated $150 billion to the Fund. Under the CARES Act, the Fund is to be used to make payments for specified uses to states and certain local governments; the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories; and Tribal governments. Hennepin County received a direct payment out of the Fund from the U.S. Treasury.
The CARES Act provides that money from the Fund may only be used to cover costs that:
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are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19); and
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were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020 (the date of enactment of the CARES Act) for the State or government; and
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were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020 and ends on December 30, 2020.
Allowable expenditures include expenses for communication and enforcement by State, territorial, local, and Tribal governments of public health orders related to COVID-19; expenses for public safety measures undertaken in response to COVID-19; expenses of actions to facilitate compliance with COVID-19-related public health measures; payroll expenses for public employees whose services are substantially dedicated to mitigating or responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency; and other COVID-19-related expenses reasonably necessary to the function of government.
On May 19, 2020 the county board adopted Resolution 20-0204 approving the Hennepin County COVID-19 Preparedness Plan. Among other measures, the plan requires face coverings be worn by all individuals while present in any county facility.
On July 22, 2020 Governor Tim Walz signed Executive Order 20-81 mandating Minnesotans must wear a face covering in indoor businesses and indoor public settings.
This request would authorize funding for a broad, multi-faceted public awareness campaign encouraging wearing face coverings and emphasizing other prevention behaviors such as messaging about physical distancing, taking care of other health care needs such as flu shots or childhood vaccinations, and, when appropriate, promote available vaccinations for COVID-19. In the absence of a vaccine, our best option for winning the battle against COVID-19 is by changing behaviors in our community.
We understand that all members of our community do not have the same information needs or trust the same information sources. To help address the racial and ethnic disparities that exist for COVID-19, we are proposing allocating funds for trusted messengers. These funds would be used to contract with community thought leaders and influencers - people whose voices are authentic, trusted, and culturally or linguistically appropriate – people who can convince and support members of their diverse communities to wear a mask. We also recognize the increased need for available materials and conversation in languages other than English, so this requests includes additional funding for translation and interpretation services.