On the recordMarch 5, 2021
First of all, those States that I described didn't lay people off. They didn't lay off firefighters. They didn't lay off teachers. They have held their teachers. They have held their firefighters. My State has actually paid bonuses to teachers and to State workers, they have so much money coming in. You see, COVID, the pandemic, did not hit all the States in the same way. So States that need more money, give them more money. I am happy to do that. But States like mine, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, California, they don't need more money. Why are we borrowing more money and sending on the burden of debt and interest payments to our kids and grandkids to send money to States that don't need it? By the way, we are talking about States that don't have deficits; they have surpluses. All of their COVID expenses would be reimbursed under the proposal that I make. There is no COVID expense that is not reimbursed.
