Audit shows state agencies received more than $1.6B of North Carolina's direct CARES Act funding by Nyamekye Daniel, The Center Square | March 31, 2021 07:00 PM Print this article North Carolina spent more than $1.6 billion from its first round of federal coronavirus relief on supporting state agencies, a state audit released Tuesday shows. The North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management disbursed the funding to state agencies from the $3.6 billion the state received in direct aid from last March's federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the report showed. The General Assembly passed the 2020 COVID-19 Recovery Act in May, allocating the federal funding to help states respond to the pandemic. The Office of the State Auditor reviewed how the money was "accounted for, allocated, and disbursed" through Dec. 31, 2020.