States Want Coronavirus Aid to Pay for Years of Fiscal Mismanagement, Not Coronavirus Fight

Kay Coles James | May 29, 2020

(Editor's Note:  This was tucked in my Draft file.  Recent vents make this even more profound now than it was in May of 2020.  RK) 

 

 

At a time when huge spending bills marked “coronavirus relief” are easily passing Congress with little scrutiny, poorly run states are asking unscrupulous members of Congress to slip in taxpayer bailouts to rescue them from years of their own fiscal mismanagement.In response, the House of Representatives recently passed a coronavirus relief bill that includes a half trillion dollars (trillion with a “t”) in unrestricted funds to bail out state governments for years of reckless expenditures entirely unrelated to the pandemic...........Some states haven’t even spent all of their coronavirus grant money because the pandemic didn’t hit them as hard as anticipated, yet many are asking for more. They just don’t want to have to spend the money on actual coronavirus relief this time.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is one of the voices in Congress speaking out against state bailouts, calling the funding “a piggy bank for unrelated expenses that have nothing to do with responding to the coronavirus.” He rightly warns that the money will be used to bail out pension plans, reward decades of mismanagement, and encourage states to become even more dependent on the federal government..........To Read More.....