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Governor's pledged $5M covered part of late childcare payments; DOA says about $3.2M was paid
Summary
Lawmakers pressed agency officials about a June press release in which the governor pledged $5,000,000 in local funds; DOA testified that clean invoices totaled about $3.2M and that those invoices were paid following the governor's direction.
Senators asked whether the governor's June press release promising $5,000,000 in local funds translated into immediate payments to childcare providers. Director Byrne, addressing the committee, said the governor "directed" that funds be located and paid but that only about $3.2 million in clean, vetted invoices were available to be paid at that time. "The amount we paid out for April, May, and partial due ... was about just over 3,200,000," Byrne said.
Director Teresa Areola confirmed that the governor pledged to make providers "whole" for those months and that the administration batched and forwarded the invoices to DOA for payment. Senators pressed for clarity on whether the $5M commitment would be replenished to any internal accounts that were reprioritized to make those payments and asked for a breakdown of the local funding sources used to assemble the patchwork payment.
Committee members asked public health and DOA to provide the invoice list and an accounting of which public‑health contracts or internal lines were temporarily repurposed to meet the governor's direction.
