GOP Opposition To State And Local Aid Remains As Senate Heads Toward Vote On COVID Bill

By Laura Olson, Missouri Independent

March 4, 2021

As Democrats seek to send President Joe Biden their latest $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill, federal lawmakers remain deeply divided on the question of whether state and local governments need another infusion of federal aid. Supporters of the bill — including numerous Republican mayors — say the answer is a clear “yes.” They argue that a number of states, particularly those that rely on service industries and tourism, have seen steep revenue declines, and local governments are facing deeper financial strains as they struggle to expand services with fewer employees.
Missouri is in line for $4.5 billion if the relief bill passes, between direct aid and changes to Medicaid, while local municipalities around the state would divvy up $2.5 billion.
“Many of our cities have furloughed workers, shrunk their workforce through attrition, cancelled police and fire recruitment efforts, and frozen capital budgets that build community infrastructure — all while absorbing additional expenses to respond to COVID, delivering essential services and reaching out to our communities that have been disproportionately affected,” a bipartisan group of Ohio mayors wrote to federal lawmakers last month.
But congressional Republicans, who also opposed including more state and local aid in the coronavirus stimulus bill approved in December, largely have been unpersuaded. They point to data showing some states outpacing their revenue projections, and argue that sending more financial help to states would unfairly reward those that locked down their economies instead of lifting restrictions on businesses.
“This has nothing to do with COVID. This has nothing to do with the economy,” Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said during a news conference Wednesday. “This has everything to do with throwing a whole big pile of money at fiscally irresponsible states.”
Those arguments will play out on the Senate floor in the coming days, as Democratic senators attempt to approve the massive stimulus package using a procedure that requires only 51 votes, rather than the 60 usually required to approve bills in the Senate.
The wide-ranging stimulus bill would, among other provisions, provide direct checks of $1,400 to Americans in certain income brackets, extend unemployment benefits and food programs and continue a national pause on evictions. It also would provide $130 billion toward school reopening; $7.5 billion for vaccination efforts; and billions more for child care, through a grant program for child care providers and an expanded child tax credit.