House Passes $55 Million COVID-19 Spending Bill to Combat Omicron
Last week in the House, we unanimously passed a $55 million COVID-19 spending bill to combat the challenges of the pandemic. As the Omicron variant has become widespread, the state has struggled to keep up with the demand for testing and our health care systems have been overworked and are feeling the strain.
*$25 million to expand testing sites,
*$25 million for providing high-quality personal protective masks for children and faculty in elementary and secondary public schools districts,
*$5 million towards expanding vaccination rates among kids ages 5 to 11,
* Also extends the authorization for public meetings, notary services and reverse-mortgage counseling to take place remotely,
*And sets the state primary date for September 6th, in order to ensure that military members overseas have an adequate time period to receive and return their ballots for the general election in November.