WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, Congressman Andy Biggs and 10 of his conservative colleagues sent a letter to President Trump, urging him to reject calls to provide additional funds to state and local governments amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
President Trump seems inclined to side with Biggs. The president called out California, Illinois and New York as states that are facing “tremendous debt” because they “have been mismanaged over a long period of time.”
Why should the people and taxpayers of America be bailing out poorly run states (like Illinois, as example) and cities, in all cases Democrat run and managed, when most of the other states are not looking for bailout help? I am open to discussing anything, but just asking?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 27, 2020
“As we move into our eighth week of economic shutdown imposed by state and local governments, Democrats are calling for Congress to provide $1 trillion in new money to backfill those governments’ lost revenues. We must reject those demands. Since the start of this crisis, Congress has already provided $765 billion in aid to assist states through direct relief, funds for expanded unemployment benefits, education assistance, increased Medicaid funding, housing programs, hospital and testing assistance, and more. And yet, many states have returned with their hand out for relief from their years of irresponsible budgeting and spending,” stated Biggs.
“We cannot reinforce and exacerbate the years of bad precedent in which the federal government assumed responsibility for the duties, wants, and needs of state and local governments. It is time for these entities to focus on safely reopening their economies, reassessing their budgets and spending plans, and ending their reliance on the federal government. Our Founding Fathers never intended for the federal government to be the behemoth it has become. Nor did they intend for the wealth of Americans to be redistributed so that the citizens of one state are forced to pay for the poor decisions of another state.” Biss concluded, “I look forward to working with President Trump to reopen our economy and restore it to its former brilliance.”
“I applaud Rep. Biggs and these courageous Members for opposing any effort to bail out fiscally irresponsible states. Taxpayers should not be on the hook to bail out pre-existing debt amidst an already challenging economic time in our country,” added Jessica Anderson, Executive Director of Heritage Action for America.