Print this article President Joe Biden speaks about the administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic at the White House, March 2, 2021.
(Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) As currently being discussed, the COVID-relief package delivers billions of dollars to states even though their finances are sitting pretty.
State and local governments have avoided a recessionary crunch thanks to recovering tax revenues coupled with waves of federal aid. Instead of seeing their finances crater, states are now afloat on a tide of federal cash.
And yet the coronavirus-relief proposal President Biden favors would provide state and local governments with another $525 billion of aid, which exceeds all previous federal aid during this crisis so far combined. It isn’t necessary. The federal government has provided sufficient aid to state and local governments. It now ought to stop, lest it undermine fiscal federalism.
State Lawmakers Split Over Need for Federal Aid
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GOP opposition to state and local aid remains as Senate heads toward vote on COVID bill
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“Conservative Dems have fought so the Biden admin sends fewer & less generous relief checks than the Trump admin did,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter. “It’s a move that makes little-to-no political or economic sense, and targets an element of relief that is most tangibly felt by everyday people. An own-goal.”
The package will deliver $1,400 checks to qualifying households.
Individuals making $75,000 or less will be eligible for the full stimulus check, which is higher than the $600 and $1,200 direct payments in the two previous pandemic relief measures that included them.
The changes would cut off eligibility at $80,000 for individuals and $160,000 for couples. Previously, checks gradually phased out for individuals making up to $100,000 and couples earning up to $200,000.