Millions of dollars in CARES Act funding will be used to help supplement unemployment funds and to pay for skills training for those displaced by the COVID virus.
In an April 28 press conference, Gov. Tate Reeves rolled out plans on how to spend money allocated to the state by the COVID stimulus act.
Mississippi received $1.25 billion of the $150 billion allocated to states as part of the stimulus plan, with Reeves saying the state is working with Congress to bring in additional funds.
Reeves said a portion of the funding would cover the state's COVID-19 response, with another portion of going toward taking the unemployment burden off of small businesses.
“We have a system in Mississippi where small businesses provide money for unemployment assistance. Those businesses are barely able to stay afloat and pay for the historic spike in unemployment,” he said.
Meanwhile, Reeves said he will work to increase wages by providing new training to individuals currently out of work.
Reeves did not say what training would be provided.
Currently, the state is seeing a spike in the number of people seeking hospital treatment as a result of the coronavirus.
According to State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs, today the state had 429 individuals in hospital beds, 162 individuals in intensive care across the state, and 72 individuals receiving respiratory help, such as ventilators.
As of April 28, 6,342 cases of COVID had been reported in the state, with 248 new cases reported today.
