Political Quotes

“I am pleased that the final bill includes a stabilization fund for States that the pandemic has hit hard. Given the growing dire fiscal emergency States are facing as a result of the coronavirus, I think it is very likely we will need to come back and do more. States not only are fighting a growing pandemic, but also a bottoming out of State revenues from a lack of sales taxes, as a result of responsible social distancing encouraged by the Federal Government, and income taxes, as a result of the Department of Treasury delaying the tax filing deadline by 3 months. We all are monitoring the situation closely and will provide further aid if needed. For most States, maybe all of them, what they need to do with this money will be completely obvious, and we defer to the sound judgment of the States. Out of an abundance of caution, we included language requiring that expenditures be related to the coronavirus pandemic. This is intended to avoid a situation in which a State was to divert these funds to some new, unrelated project that had been rejected as part of the State's regular budgeting process. We do not want to be paying for roads to nowhere or other trivial expenses. Again, for most States, this will not be an issue. The coronavirus has exploded their demand for services and strangled their revenue streams so this money will just be plugging those holes. No responsible Governor or legislature is even thinking about new projects at this time.…”