Gov. Ron DeSantis announced this week his administration will soon begin giving out unused coronavirus relief funds to counties.
Congressman Vern Buchanan is urging the governor to give federal funding to two of counties that have been hit the hardest: Manatee and Sarasota.
Commissioners in both those counties say it's greatly needed.
According to the Florida Department of Health, on June 12, Manatee County has more than 13,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 114 deaths. While Sarasota County has more than 700 confirmed cases and 89 deaths.
As a nurse, Manatee County Commissioner Carol Whitmore says it's only going to get worse.
"We are in need of help,” Whitmore said.
DeSantis has $1.2 billion dollars of federal funding to give out to smaller counties across Florida.
"Our hospitals, I talked to them this week, they are running low on masks, so this kind of money could help,” Whitmore said.
But, for a county or city to be eligible for funding it must have a population of at least 500,000 people. Manatee and Sarasota don't fit that criteria.
In April, Buchanan urged congressional leaders to lower the eligibility, and now he's asking the governor to direct a significant amount of funds to Manatee and Sarasota.
"Buchanan is always representing his district very well and he's also gone across party lines in many cases to do that, so I appreciate him trying to help his district receive funds that we need as you can tell by all the data,” Whitmore said.
"I appreciate congressman Buchanan going out there and fighting for our community making sure we get our fair share and support, because the more support we can pull down in terms of federal dollars and state dollars the less we have to pony up at the local level,” said Sarasota County Commissioner Christian Ziegler.
Of the Florida counties that have not received funding, Manatee and Sarasota make up number one and number two for coronavirus deaths.
Whitmore says funding for these counties is overdue.
"Unfortunately, it's all about your census and if you don't have it right this is what happens. It's not fair,” Whitmore said. “Hillsborough County who has 1.4, they said, population has less cases than Manatee County and less cases than Sarasota County and they received $270 million.”
In a letter, Buchanan tells DeSanits this relief funding is a much-needed lifeline. It can provide PPE and medical supplies to those on the front-line and increase testing.
“The relations that he has on both sides of the aisle, that's what it takes to get things done in Washington,” Whitmore said. “So, I really think that Congressman Buchanan will pull this out of the hat."
Commissioner Zielgler, says he's spoken with DeSantis directly and says he's aware of how badly the virus has affected Sarasota and Manatee.
Ziegler says he's confident DeSantis will do the right thing and give these counties the help it needs.
There's no set date on when those federal dollars will be distributed, but commissioners hope to see something in the next couple weeks.
10 Tampa Bay has reached out to the governor's office for more information and was told:
"The Florida Division of Emergency Management continues to fulfill requests for PPE every day. If a request was made to the Division, it will be fulfilled as quickly as possible."
The Florida Division of Emergency Management gave 10 Tampa Bay the list of counties receiving federal funding and how much during this initial disbursement.
"The disbursement amount was calculated based on the same per capita methodology used by the U.S. Department of Treasury for their direct payment to counties with a population greater than 500,000," said a spokesperson for the department.
So as an example, Seminole county is 2.2 percent of the state’s population and will receive 2.2 percent of funds allocated by the CARES Act to Florida for local governments.
"Counties will be sent an email to register with the Division and once registered, will receive a funding agreement. When the Division receives a signed funding agreement, staff will begin working closely with counties to expedite the disbursement process," said a spokesperson.
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