MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama will spend nearly all of its $1.8 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds after a flurry of last-minute grants and reimbursements before the end-of-year deadline, the state finance director said Wednesday.

State records show that about $818 million of the state's $1.8 million allocation is so far unspent ahead of a Dec. 30 deadline to use the money or send it back to Washington. Finance Director Kelly Butler told reporters the state is working through a backlog of reimbursement requests from local governments that should take the remaining relief dollars down to $10 million by the Dec. 30 deadline.

“I’m highly confident that we will get substantially all the money spent by the deadline,” Butler said. He gave no indications that the federal government might extend the deadline — instead, they are putting the “pedal to the metal” to get the money out the door by Dec. 30.

The largest allocations by the state have included $300 million to shore up the state's unemployment trust fund after unemployment claims skyrocketed during the pandemic, as well as a $200 million grant program to support small businesses, nonprofits and faith-based organizations in Alabama that have been impacted by COVID-19.

Butler said in mid-December the finance department will do a final tally of what is remaining and seek reallocation if needed to different areas.

More than 80 organizations, including advocacy groups for low-income families and people with disabilities, sent Republican Gov. Kay Ivey a letter in November expressing concern that the relief money would go unused when the state faces so many needs. The groups noted Alabama was one of the poorest states in the country, with 800,000 residents living in poverty “before this pandemic devastated the economy.”

Butler said the department had received thousands of suggestions for the money, “all of which have a lot of merit.” But he said there were strict guidelines from the U.S. Treasury Department on how the money can be used.

"There is a perception out there that this money can solve everybody’s problem and can be used for anything that people want it to be used for. And the reality is the Treasury guidance, particularly the audit guidance, does not allow us to do everything everybody wants us to do.”

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