Pinal Today

Pinal County Board of Supervisors Chairman Anthony Smith recently sent a letter to Gov. Doug Ducey asking him to release funds allocated to the county under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

The Pinal County website reports areas in Arizona with populations of more than 500,000 people were able to obtain the CARES Act funds directly from the federal government while those areas with less than 500,000 people were supposed to receive funds from the state. Pinal County, which has an estimated population of 462,789, has not been given any of the $1.85 billion in funding provided to the State of Arizona to distribute among 13 counties.

“Citizens and organizations in Pinal County, and all counties under the threshold, cannot wait for some future federal funding that may never come, or if it does, is months down the line, if at all,” Smith said in the letter to Ducey posted on the county’s website. “Just as in the large municipalities and counties, there is an urgent need to stabilize our businesses, nonprofits, food banks and other services. The State of Arizona was provided an allocation to do just that and to withhold assistance is short-sided for all.”

Smith wrote the letter May 15 following a public meeting held by the Board of Supervisors where mayors, government officials, local businesses and nonprofits voiced their concerns regarding the economic impact of the coronavirus.