Letter to Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida - Mucarsel-Powell Leads Florida Democratic Delegation In Calling On Governor To Make Florida's Testing Plan Public And Account For Use Of Federal Emergency Funds

Letter

Dear Governor DeSantis:

As Florida continues to respond to an increase in COVID-19 cases, we are writing as members of the Florida Congressional delegation to request that you make public the state testing plans that you were required to submit to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as part of the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, which was signed into law on April 24, 2020.

This legislation required that each state that received federal funding for COVID-19 submit their COVID-19 testing plans and goals for the remainder of 2020. HHS further set a deadline for states to submit plans for the months of May and June by May 30, 2020, and plans for the remainder of 2020 by June 15, 2020. As you know, the legislation required that these plans include the number of tests needed monthly, including diagnostic and serological tests, month-by-month estimates of laboratory and testing capacity, and descriptions on how the state will use its resources for testing, including community mitigation efforts to slow the spread of the virus.

Though the state recently received an extension to submit its final proposal to July 10, given the current rapid spread of the virus in our state, the information is needed as soon as possible. To date, Florida has received significant federal funding to respond to COVID-19, including over $492 million from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to conduct testing and surveillance. However, we have not seen a detailed breakdown of how the state intends to utilize this money. It is critical that we, members of the Florida Congressional delegation, know how the funding we have appropriated is being spent so that we can identify any potential shortfalls that need to be addressed by further federal coronavirus legislation.

As such, we request that you please do the following:

1. Publish Florida's plans submitted to HHS regarding the status of COVID-19 in the state and the plan for the remainder of 2020 to expand testing and surveillance.
2. Provide a breakdown for federal and state funding utilized to bolster the contact tracing workforce, as well as hiring and training goals to help slow the spread of this pandemic.
3. Detail any plans the state has developed to comfortably quarantine positive cases, to break chains of transmission in groupings in close proximity, such as congregate living areas or workspaces.

We stand ready to assist the state with the federal resources needed to address the ongoing spread of this virus.