In 2021, the United States Congress passed the American Rescue Plan to help governments, businesses, and residents across the country manage and recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the Associated Press has reported that hundreds of millions of dollars in relief funds were spent on things like luxury hotels, minor league baseball stadium repairs, and debts owed by failing Senate institutes.

The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program provided $350 billion in aid to state, local, and tribal governments throughout the U.S..

According to the Treasury Department, those funds can be spent to "replace lost public sector revenue", "respond to the far-reaching public health and negative economic impacts of the pandemic", "provide premium pay for essential workers", and "invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure". SLFRF provides "substantial flexibility" to allow jurisdictions to meet these requirements.

In Broward County Florida, those flexible requirements allowed officials access to $140 million to begin construction on an "upscale" hotel and an 11,000-square-foot spa. The county says the completed project will cost $1 billion.

"With an addition of flexible indoor and outdoor contemporary event space, the County expects to attract more convention business with the enhanced mix of accommodations, meeting space and amenities," the county's website reads.

According to the AP, Broward County's high-end hotel is just one of the countless questionable projects receiving pandemic aid money.

New Jersey spent $15 million to improve the state's likelihood of being able to host the 2026 World Cup, and Birmingham, Alabama, spent $5 million on the 2022 World Games, an event featuring obscure sports like flying disc, korfball, and DanceSport.

Two Colorado Springs' golf courses will be receiving new irrigation systems for a total of $6.6 million, and New York's Dutchess County spent $12 million to bring a minor league baseball stadium into compliance with the New York Yankees' requirements for its farm teams.

In Massachusetts, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate was awarded $5 million in COVID-19 relief funds to pay off its debts. The institute reportedly has a history of financial difficulties and operated at a $27 million loss from 2015 to 2019, according to the AP.

Perhaps most alarming of all, $400 million in aid is going towards the construction of new prisons in Alabama. This means roughly one of every four dollars given to the state in COVID aid will go towards building new prisons.

"Ultimately local governments are accountable to their communities on their decisions on how best to use their funds," Liz Bourgeois, a spokeswoman for the Treasury Department, said in a statement.

It may be surprising to hear that these costly projects can meet the Department's requirements, but the truth is that skirting those requirements is far from difficult. In Broward County, for example, the request for $140 million in aid was initially refused because of the county's plan to spend those funds on a large capital project.

However, according to the AP, the county was quickly able to reallocate the aid into its general fund, claiming that the money would be used to cover lost tax revenue. After the justification was accepted, the funds were moved back to the hotel project.

"The County has reviewed the Treasury guidance and modified its use of (the) funds," County Administrator Monica Cepero said. "No federal funds will be used to pay any of the cost of developing the Hotel Project."

Meanwhile, Dutchess County's Executive Marcus Molinaro says that updating its minor league baseball stadium is "completely and absolutely consistent" with the SLFRF's intended goal.

"Counties should be able to determine what's best for them," director of government affairs for the National Association of Counties, Mark Ritacco, told reporters. "Their residents will decide whether that was appropriate or not at the ballot box."

While many officials argue that the vast majority of the SLFRF resources are being spent on worthy projects, several prominent republican, including Utah Senator Mitt Romney, have begun calling for more transparency.

"They need to give us an accounting," Romney said. "Show us how you've already spent the money Congress gave you."

"It's hard to imagine how a four-star hotel is helping to solve the pain of COVID," Romney added.