LINCOLN - Gov. Pete Ricketts has the legal authority to distribute the $1.1 billion in federal CARES Act funds sent to the state to aid in the economic recovery from COVID-19, the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office said in a legal opinion released Friday.

State Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha had requested the opinion, citing several conflicting clauses in state law and in the Nebraska Constitution about the State Legislature’s authority to appropriate and questioning whether the governor could decide how to spend such federal money.

A 12-page opinion, written by Leslie Donley of the Attorney General’s Office, said that a budget bill passed by the State Legislature last year included language saying that “any additional federal funds” received by the state should be appropriated by the state agency designated by the federal government or, if none were designated, the governor.

The opinion said the Legislature, via the language, had legally appropriated the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds sent by Congress and given the governor the authority to distribute it to help struggling Nebraskans.

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