A virtual town hall was held last Friday, to update the public on the final recommendations that Governor Mark Gordon is proposing for allocating the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the federal government has put in place a number of COVID-19 relief bills. One of those is ARPA. The state is required to spend the $500 million it received within five years.
Renny MacKay, the governor's policy director, emphasized that the goal is to pursue solutions to help the state in the short and long term.
"We've been focused on developing what is needed to immediately help us survive the pandemic," said MacKay. "And the economic impacts that have gone along with the pandemic. And then also looking to that future with a drive and to thrive. So that's the overarching strategy."
Members of Governor Gordon's cabinet presented their recommendations for how to help the health, workforce services, and family services departments in the state.
Many participants voiced a need to improve connectivity with better broadband and then using that for services like telepsychiatry. Department of Health Director Stefan Johansson said it's a serious need.
"We can deliver better psychiatric services evaluation and treatment through telepsychiatry," Stefan Johansson, the interim director at the Wyoming Department of Health. "So there's a proposal for that, which really overlaps with how connectivity and broadband are so important to a lot of these areas."
The public has till Jan. 14 to comment. Those suggestions will then be brought to the legislature.
