Political Quotes

“Mr. President, in order to build on a key provision I authored in the CARES Act, which provided states with $150 billion in Coronavirus Relief Funds, I am reintroducing the State and Local Emergency Stabilization Fund Act to help state and local governments shoulder the costs of the coronavirus and its devastating impact on lives, livelihoods, and the economy. The State and Local Emergency Stabilization Fund Act has three critical components: authorizing new funding, assuring flexibility in spending the funds, and extending the time period for which the funding can be spent. Specifically, the bill would provide State and local governments an additional $600 billion in funding, includes a protective $5 billion small state minimum, treats the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as States, and reserves funds for territories and Tribes. In addition, $59 billion would be allocated to States based on their relative coronavirus infection rates, and $205 billion would be reserved exclusively for local governments. The bill makes it crystal clear that Coronavirus Relief Funds are flexible and may be used to maintain state and local services. And it gives State and local governments until June 30, 2022 to spend the money in order to ensure funding can be equitably allocated and disbursed to help communities combat COVID-19 and recover.…”