The grants to 16 groups OK'd in Ducey's last days were given in violation of a law that requires a competitive process, the Hobbs administration said.
Top members of Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs' administration accused her Republican predecessor of illegally awarding about $210 million in federal COVID-19 response grants in his last days in office, and said Wednesday those grants were invalid as a result.
"We didn’t have a choice in the matter," Berens said."In the Hobbs administration we follow the law. We did this in part to protect the organizations in question, because they could be subject to claw back action by the Treasury Department if they were party to an illegal grant agreement." Such requirements, which are meant to help the state get the best deal when it spends taxpayer dollars, were waived during the COVID-19 pandemic, but were extended months beyond that by Andy Tobin, the former director of the department, according to the Hobbs administration. Tobin did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday, and Hobbs' office did not provide documentation of Tobin's actions.
Seven of the invalid grants do not include specifics about how the organizations can spend the money, other than a broad statement that it must mitigate the impacts of COVID-19, which is required under ARPA rules. Those seven agreements say the recipients should submit project proposals within 30 days. Most of the grant agreements are signed by former Ducey chief of staff Daniel Ruiz and Ducey's budget director, Matthew Gress, who is now a state representative.
A for Arizona, up to $75 million, for the education nonprofit to offer another year of Ducey's AZ OnTrack Summer Camp, the former governor's signature program to help combat learning loss.
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