[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 86 (Thursday, May 7, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2325-S2326]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTION

      By Mr. REED:
  S. 3671. A bill to amend title VI of the Social Security Act to 
provide additional funding for States, Tribal Governments, and local 
communities due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) public 
health emergency, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Appropriations.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, in order to build on a key provision I 
authored in the CARES Act, which provided states with $150 billion in 
Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF), I am introducing the State and Local 
Emergency Stabilization Fund Act so that States and local governments 
can continue to be supported as they shoulder the costs of battling the 
corona virus.
  The State and Local Emergency Stabilization Fund Act would cut 
needless red tape that was bureaucratically imposed by the Trump 
Administration, which is constraining States from spending the CRF 
money that Congress unanimously approved to save lives and help rescue 
our economy. My legislation makes it clear that lost revenue is a cost. 
It also extends the time horizon States have to spend the money in 
order to ensure they have the flexibility to equitably allocate and 
disburse the funding and help communities combat COVID-19 and recover.
  Unfortunately, the costs of responding to the coronavirus and keeping 
our economy afloat have only increased as result of this 
Administration's inability to formulate and execute a public health 
strategy based on facts and science, or implement effectively the 
resources and programs Congress authorized to keep our economy afloat. 
To meet these increasing costs, this bill would provide State and local 
governments an additional $600 billion in funding. The bill includes a 
protective $5 billion small State minimum, treats the District of 
Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Kico as States, and reserves 
funds for territories and Tribes. In addition, $59 billion would be 
allocated to States based on their relative coronavirus infection 
rates, and $205 billion would be reserved elusively for local 
governments.
  State and local governments are being pushed to the financial brink 
by skyrocketing costs and plunging revenue, and they need stability in 
order to have a chance at recovery. While some of my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle have tried to paint this issue as a `red State 
vs. blue State' problem, all fifty States are suffering and need 
financial relief from the Federal government to prevent massive 
layoffs, cuts to needed services, and future tax hikes.
  In addition, on May 6, 2020, CNBC reported ``[p]rivate payrolls 
hemorrhaged more than 20 million jobs in April as companies sliced 
workers amid a corona virus-induced shutdown that took most of the U.S. 
economy offline, according to a report Wednesday from ADP. In all, the 
decline totaled 20,236,000--easily the worst loss in the survey's 
history going back to 2002 but not as bad as the 22 million that 
economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting. The previous 
record was 834,665 in February 2009 amid the financial crisis and 
accompanying Great Recession.''
  Mr. President, the scale and pace of our public health emergency and 
the impact it has having on our economy requires each of us to swiftly 
set aside ideology and work urgently to address these generational 
challenges head on. Failure to respond in a timely manner will only 
result in more layoffs and a longer recession. It will mean States and 
local governments will be left unable to provide needed health, 
education, public safety, and sanitation services, just when those 
services are needed most. Any economic recovery needs reliable State 
and local governments that provide the business certainty that make our 
attractive to businesses and investors throughout the world.

[[Page S2326]]

  Nobody is immune from this crisis. Congress should come together, do 
the right thing, and provide States the resources they need to save 
lives and livelihoods and get the economy working again. I urge each of 
my colleagues to join me in working to enact this legislation so that 
we can get more critical federal resources to our States and local 
governments who are on the front lines of battling this public health 
and economic emergency.

                          ____________________