On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Among its provisions, the CARES Act provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas. The U.S. Congress appropriated $55 million for the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) to distribute among the seven Insular Area governments to assist them in their preparation for, response to, and prevention measures for the COVID-19 pandemic.
We have reviewed the OIA’s oversight of the CARES Act funds to the Insular Area governments to date and provide this summary report as a snapshot. We found that the OIA has taken prompt and immediate action in its allocation of CARES Act funds to Insular Area governments. Less than 2 weeks after the passage of the CARES Act, the OIA supplemented its official website with information on the CARES Act funding, developed a fair allocation method and made funds available to Insular Area governments for immediate action, and provided clear guidance to the Insular Area governments.