See Who Is Getting Some of the Big Payments of the Federal Coronavirus Monies
GoLocalProv News Team
See Who Is Getting Some of the Big Payments of the Federal Coronavirus Monies
Governor Gina RaimondoLate on Friday, after weeks of delays, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo’s administration released the “Transparency Portal” which provides a line item breakdown of the spending of $43 million of the federal CARES Act monies so far.
Some of the biggest recipients of the federal funds range from Jeff Bezos’ Amazon Web Services to Rhode Island mega-developer Dimeo.
Rhode Island is receiving $1.25 billion, the minimum amount a state can receive.
Across the country, states, territories, tribal governments, and the District of Columbia received a total of $150 billion.
Rhode Island in Focus
For weeks, the Governor’s office had refused to release complete date — GoLocal filed an Access to Public Records request on May 27 seeking “provide a list of all expenditures of federal dollars received under the CARES ACT. The amount of the expenditure, the recipients of the funds, and the date of the expenditure.”
The amount disclosed by the Raimondo administration is just a fraction of the total amount obligated by the state to vendors. According to the data released Friday,$43,721,337.25 has been spent so far, but documents submitted to the legislature show that hundreds of millions have been committed -- as much as $800 million.
Hospitals alone are receiving $150 million. None of the spending by the Raimondo administration is being reviewed or approved by the legislature. The transparency portal gives no details for the services provided by the vendor.
Of the $43 million spent to date, here are some of the companies that have received some of the largest payments, but this is not a listing of the biggest payments:
Dimeo Construction - The Rhode Island mega-developer has been a major donor to the Raimondo campaign -- donating more than $23,000. The company built out the temporary hospitals and was paid $9,261,782.12
Amazon Web Services - The Jeff Bezos' created tech services firm received $330,000.
Alert Ambulance - A Fall River-based company got $45,431.
Genesis Marketing - The North Providence company markets itself as "We are a leading sales rep group representing the finest inspirational gift manufacturers and publishers to the retail market nationwide." $1,465,000
JP Morgan Chase - Top execs have donated heavily to the Raimondo campaign, contributing a total of $19,149. The New York-based bank received $165,146 in payments.
Meals on Wheels - The non-profit has received payments of $335,864
New England Highway Technologies - The Rhode Island-based minority-owned highway supply company received a payment of $131,750.
