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IT’S ALL RELATIVE

Gov. Kristi Noem’s Family Got $600K in Virus Grants She Championed

She raised the cap on grants, and her relatives’ farm was one of the businesses that got the max.

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Joe Raedle/Getty

By Tracy Connor

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s relatives received $600,000 in COVID-19 relief grants under a program she expanded, the Associated Press reports. The program initially capped grants at $100,000, but Noem’s administration raised that to $500,000—and a ranch owned by her family got the maximum. The AP reports that only 4 percent of applicants got that much money. Her brothers also got about $100,000 for a business they run. Noem does not have a financial interest in the ranch or the business, and the AP said there is no indication she was involved in how the small-business funds were allocated.

Read it at Associated Press

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