Washington DC - Eight states have yet to authorize spending any of the billions of dollars in federal aid they received under President Joe Biden’s Covid-19 relief plan earlier this year, according to a think tank analysis.

States have until 2024 to spend their portion of the $350 billion in federal aid distributed to state and local governments as part of Biden’s American Rescue Plan.

The aid to states and local governments made up roughly a sixth of the $2 trillion relief package approved by Congress in March, one of Biden’s biggest legislative victories.

Many states have steered those funds toward replacing lost revenue or economic relief programs, but a handful of mostly Republican states will head into the new year without having spent a dollar from the program.

The eight states cumulatively represent roughly $16.5 billion in unspent aid.

State governments in Missouri, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota have yet to budget their funds, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which has tracked state use of the federal aid.

Rhode Island, the only Democratic-controlled state yet to budget the funds, is expected to approve a plan in early January when its legislature reconvenes.

In contrast, Missouri Republican Governor Mike Parson’s office told The Kansas City Star that he won’t fully lay out his plan for the funds until he delivers his annual State of the State address in January. His state was badly hit by tornadoes earlier this month.

A White House official said the law gives states multiple years to spend the money by design.

"First, the State and Local Program was designed for short term and long-term recovery support, including helping localities as new variants of Covid-19 emerge. The law allows funds to be obligated through 2024," a White House official told McClatchy in an email this month as the Omicron variant began rapidly spreading throughout the country.

Policymakers in Missouri and other states that have been slow to spend the funds are expecting to use some of the money for one-time investments in infrastructure rather than short-term economic relief or Covid-19 response.