Billions From Biden Aid Plan Left Untapped by Cash-Flush States

Tens of billions of dollars that U.S. states got as a lifeline from the Biden administration is sitting idle in local coffers already flush with cash.

Michigan has budgeted just 7% of its $6.5 billion allocation and hadn’t spent any as of last week. South Dakota officials haven’t even gotten around to asking for their $974 million allotted under the White House’s American Rescue Plan legislation. In West Virginia, a state website says detailed plans for its $1.35 billion are “COMING SOON.”

Officials nationwide are grappling with how to spend an unprecedented infusion at a time when their coffers have ...