Tribal Government COVID-19 Emergency Response Grants - Washington State Department of Commerce

Under the CARES Act, the Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) may be used to reimburse Tribal governments in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency from March 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021.

These may include expenditures incurred to allow the Tribal government to respond directly to the emergency, such as by addressing medical or public health needs, as well as expenditures in response to second-order effects of the emergency, such as economic support to those suffering from employment or business interruptions due to COVID-19-related business closures.

Funds may NOT be used to fill shortfalls in government revenue to cover expenditures that would not otherwise qualify under the statute. Although a broad range of uses is allowed, revenue replacement is not a permissible use of CRF payments.

Payments may NOT be used to cover costs accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020. The “most recently approved” budget refers to the enacted budget for the particular government’s relevant fiscal period. A cost is not considered to have been accounted for in a budget merely because it could be met using a budgetary stabilization fund, rainy day fund, or similar reserve account.

Grantees are charged with determining whether an expense is eligible based on the US Treasury’s guidance and the grantee’s contract scope of work with Commerce.

To assist Tribal governments with this determination, Commerce has developed an eligibility cost test linked below. This test gives each Tribal government full authority to make the appropriate call for each circumstance.

Program Resources For Federal Coronavirus Relief Funds
US Treasury’s Guidance 
USTreasury’s CRF FAQs (Updated Often) 
US Treasury’s CARES Act CRF Landing Page