Thousands of Montanans have applied for COVID-19 relief funds from the state’s first CARES Act distribution, Gov. Steve Bullock told reporters in a conference call Friday.
Montana received $1.25 billion from the CARES Act, which Congress recently passed for COVID-19 relief. On Tuesday, Bullock announced that the first $123 million of those funds would be distributed as emergency grants. That amount includes:
- $50 million for grants to Montana-owned businesses with 50 employees or less, to be used as working capital to replace COVID-19-related losses. The maximum amount a business can receive is $50 million.
- $50 million in rent, mortgage, deposit and hazard insurance assistance for individuals who have lost income due to COVID-19 and meet certain criteria.
- $10 million in grants for Montana-based nonprofits to help with COVID-19-related challenges.
- $5 million for county and tribal health departments.
- $5 million in “Montana Innovation Grants” for Montana companies to produce supplies like hand sanitizer needed in the COVID-19 fight.
- $2 million in assistance to food pantries and food banks
- $400,000 to support social interaction for senior citizens.
- $650,000 to meet the communication needs of Montanans with disabilities.
- $500,000 for the Montana Food and Agriculture Adaptability program, which provides grants to food and agriculture businesses.
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“Fifteen minutes after the application portal for the nine new grant programs opened yesterday, there were more than 2,000 people trying to start applications,” Bullock said. As of Friday morning, he said that 5,500 businesses had applied for the business stabilization grant, with 150 applications approved. The food and agriculture and innovation grants had respectively gotten about 270 and 465 applications.
Bullock said more than 400 Montanans had submitted applications for housing assistance, 600 nonprofits had applied for social services programs, and 41 local health officers had applied for grants.
“The agencies operating these grant programs have enlisted additional staff to review applications and get the funds out as quickly as possible,” Bullock said, adding that the state will announce additional funding in coming weeks.
Also during Friday’s press call, the governor voiced confidence about the state’s progress in testing. As of early afternoon Friday, Montana had completed nearly 21,000 tests. Bullock has set a goal of 60,000 tests per month, and testing all nursing home residents. He said Friday that the state was working out logistics with those facilities. He also said he expects to receive a shipment of supplies this weekend that will keep the state's testing efforts on track, although he was not specific about the shipment quantity.
Bullock did not indicate when the state would allow additional business reopenings beyond those already enacted. And with the summer tourism season fast approaching, he pointed out that travelers arriving in Montana from out of state are required to self-quarantine for 14 days.
“We hope that folks will actually abide by it….I've heard some local health officials raising concerns with some folks from out of state.” On Thursday, it was announced that an out-of-state visitor had tested positive in Lake County, although that individual was believed to have had minimal contact with the community.
Asked if he would consider taking additional steps to enforce the quarantine, Bullock said that he had “no extraordinary measures to announce, certainly at this time.”
Also on Friday, Kalispell Regional Healthcare announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be building an Alternate Care Facility at its hospital for non-COVID patients so that the hospital can accommodate more COVID patients in the event of a second wave of infections.
