COVID-19: Newsom seeks $2.7 billion in emergency funding to battle omicron in California
Christopher Damien
California Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration said Saturday it was asking the state Legislature for $2.7 billion in emergency funding to fight the surge in COVID-19 cases tied to the omicron variant.
The request comes a day after Newsom activated 200 California National Guard members to help bolster testing facilities. Additional Guard members are expected to be deployed next week.
"From day one, California has taken swift and direct action to battle COVID-19 with policies that have saved tens of thousands of lives, but there’s more work to be done," said Newsom. "Our proposed COVID-19 Emergency Response Package will support our testing capacity, accelerate vaccination and booster efforts, support frontline workers and health care systems and battle misinformation, with a focus on the hardest-hit communities."
On Monday, Newsom must unveil his proposal for the 2022-23 fiscal year, which starts July 1. His proposal will kick off months of negotiations with lawmakers, who face a June 15 deadline to pass a budget. The state is expecting a $31 billion surplus.
The $262 billion budget Newsom signed last summer for fiscal 2021-22 included a projected $80 billion surplus, which allowed lawmakers to provide COVID-19 relief and send stimulus checks to millions of Californians.
Administration officials said that, if granted, the $2.7 billion emergency request will be divided between the current fiscal year and 2022-23. The administration will be asking the Legislature to immediately act on an emergency appropriation of $1.4 billion, with spending expected as follows:
- About $470 million for staffing and other concerns related to the current hospitalization surge;
- $400 million for vaccine distribution;
- $418 million for virus testing;
- $115 million for emergency state response;
- $18 million for contact tracing.
An additional $1.3 billion is requested for the next budget:
- About $134 million to address hospital surge;
- $740 million for testing;
- $183 million for vaccine distribution;
- $74 million to support vulnerable populations;
- $32 million in additional response efforts around the state.
Saturday's announcement came in advance of Newsom's scheduled state budget briefing Monday and after the omicron variant has sent virus cases and related hospitalizations to nearly the level of the 2020 winter spike.
Administration officials said that the state had 2,700 new COVID-19 hospital admissions Friday, bringing the overall number of virus admissions to about 10,000. That increase has brought hospitalization numbers, overall, up to about 52,000, which is 1,000 shy of the 53,000 at the peak of last year's winter surge.
The funds will also be used to fight misinformation officials believe is to blame for some Californians' refusal to be vaccinated. Part of that effort, officials said, is to continue to fund community outreach programs in partnership with ethnic media outlets, canvassing and phone banking.
Hospital staffing continues to be a challenge, officials said. And about $614 million of the funds, total between both fiscal years, will be for supporting frontline workers and contracting additional staff for public and private hospitals.
About 66 million vaccinations and boosters have been administered in the state of nearly 40 million people. And the state has spent about $11.2 billion to fight the virus since the pandemic's onset.