Washington—Heritage Action released the following statement today on behalf of executive director Jessica Anderson in response to additional requests for state bailouts as part of the next COVID-19 response package:
The President has mobilized a whole of government response to meet the challenges of COVID-19 head-on, specifically providing assistance to states as their public health is impacted and providing direct assistance to American workers and businesses. These are the right ways to assist states. And while every state has different factors to consider based on public compliance, capacity of medical facilities and health workers, and the reach of the virus itself, some states seek to take advantage of this crisis to bailout long term, existing debt.
In a gross overreach, the National Governors Association is now demanding the federal government bail out their state budgets. Governors and state officials have a responsibility to manage their budgets effectively, even in the face of an emergency. Governors have dealt with significant emergencies ranging from natural disasters to war. In a crisis such as this, Governors should not be relieved of their responsibility to manage their state and certainly should not take advantage of this crisis to bail out long standing debt.
Congress should reject this request for state bailouts completely and swiftly.