States plead for more federal help as virus outbreak worsens
(AP) — With more shutdowns looming and a vaccine months away from wide distribution, governors across the U.S. are pleading for more help from Washington ahead of what is shaping up to be a bleak winter.
Renewed restrictions on indoor businesses, overloaded hospitals and the coming end of unemployment benefits for millions of Americans have led governors to paint a dire picture of the months ahead unless the federal government steps in with more money and leadership to help them shore up their damaged budgets and beat back the resurgence of the coronavirus.
Between now and June 2022, state and local governments could be facing a shortfall of $400 billion or more by some estimates.
On a conference call Tuesday of Democratic governors from the Midwest, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers called for a sequel to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act adopted by Congress in March.
“There are workers and families and farmers and small businesses that are going to need our help, and frankly, we can’t do it alone,” he said. “We’re going to need a robust federal support system to help our states and economies recover beyond the federal CARES funds that expire at the end of the year.”
Casey Katims, federal liaison for Washington
Gov. Jay Inslee, said the situation there is too dire for the state to
wait until President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in Jan. 20.
“We need help by the end of this year,” Katims said.
The
cost of distributing tens of millions of doses of a vaccine in 2021 is
also emerging as a major concern for governors. State health authorities
have called on Congress to provide $8.4 billion.
A new infusion
of federal money does not appear to be on the way anytime soon. A
lame-duck session of Congress and a presidential administration on its
way out have chilled the prospects for a deal.
Congressional
Democrats and Republicans generally say a new stimulus bill is needed,
but they disagree on the scope of it. Some Republicans are opposed to
another round of checks directly to most taxpayers, and some don’t want
Washington to “bail out” state and local governments that had financial
struggles before the pandemic.
On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell said the Democrats’ approach includes “huge sums of
money for state and city governments with no linkage to demonstrated
COVID needs.”
“Democrats still want coronavirus relief for the
entire country held hostage over a massive slush fund for their own
use,” the Kentucky Republican said.
The virus is blamed for almost a quarter-million deaths and over 11 million confirmed infections in the U.S.
Last
spring, Congress and President Donald Trump agreed to a series of
measures worth nearly $3 trillion to deal with the outbreak. The aid
included a big boost, since expired, to weekly unemployment benefits,
along with grants and loans for businesses and assistance to state and
local governments.
States have used the money for testing and
contact tracing, assisting businesses, helping residents with utility
bills and rent and expanding broadband access for students attending
school remotely. But they have not generally been allowed to use it for
one of their major needs: replacing declining tax revenue to keep
regular government services running.
The needs have become more
urgent as the virus rampages across virtually every state. California
and Texas each have exceeded 1 million cases.
As intensive care
units fill up, some Republican governors once reluctant to impose mask
mandates have reversed course, and some cities and states are
threatening fines against businesses that violate restrictions on social
gatherings.
Biden this week called for Congress to immediately
adopt a version of a $2.4 trillion stimulus bill passed by the House,
but not the Senate, in May: “This is about keeping Americans afloat.”
A
vaccine appears to be on the horizon after two companies announced that
early trials show their versions are at least 90% effective. But the
powerful freezers needed to store the doses, protective equipment for
the workers and the task of getting the vaccine into every community and
administering the shots are becoming logistical and financial
challenges.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates
that state, local, territorial and tribal government budgets will be
short collectively by $275 billion to $415 billion through June 2022 if
they use all their reserve money to help deal with the virus. Moody’s
Analytics said that for states alone, the shortfall could range from
$196 billion to $396 billion, depending on how bad the virus outbreak
gets.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, said she is pushing the
state’s GOP-dominated congressional delegation for more federal help.
She said that Kansas is on course to award federally funded grants
totaling $57.5 million to about 3,000 businesses, but that twice as many
have applied for help.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a
budget over the summer with a $5 billion deficit, which he and lawmakers
assumed would be covered by a second federal coronavirus relief
package.
“Every state … every city is suffering from failure of revenues because of COVID-19,” said Pritzker, a Democrat. “The federal government is really the only resource that we all have to turn to.”
Mulvihill reported from Davenport, Iowa, and La Corte from Olympia, Washington. Associated Press writers John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; John O’Connor in Springfield, Illinois; and Keith Ridler in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this report.