Tag: federal stimulus

COVID dollars: Stimulus, relief or bailout? A closer look at some math

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.truthinaccounting.org/news/detail/covid-dollars-stimulus-relief-or-bailout-a-closer-look-at-some-math

Excerpt:

Illinois and Connecticut state governments don’t pay taxes to the federal government. In Illinois’ latest financial report, a report prepared by the department led by Mendoza (note that the latest report available is for fiscal 2019, for a fiscal year that ended more than 600 days ago), Illinois reported roughly $25 billion in grant “revenue,” most of it from the federal government. This doesn’t add up to Illinois contributing more in federal taxes than it receives from the federal government.

So how does their math work?

To claim that Illinois and Connecticut act as donor states, Mendoza and Lembo are “counting” on the money sent by their state’s taxpayers to the federal government, a very large amount.

But when they call for federal “relief,” they aren’t calling for federal money for state taxpayers. They are calling for federal “relief” to be sent to state governments.

Author(s): Bill Bergman

Publication Date: 8 March 2021

Publication Site: Truth in Accounting

Durbin, Duckworth Announce Illinois Wins In COVID-19 Relief Bill

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-duckworth-announce-illinois-wins-in-covid-19-relief-bill#new_tab

Excerpt:

U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released the following statements after the Senate passed President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which will provide emergency relief to Illinois:

…..

To avoid dramatic budget cuts at every level of government:

Estimated $13.2 billion in state and local funding for Illinois including $1.8 billion for Chicago.

The bill provides an estimated $7.5 billion for the state and $5.5 billion for Illinois locals ($2.3 billion for counties; $2.4 billion for larger cities; $681 million for smaller municipalities).

…..

Multiemployer Pension Relief: 

By prolonging the solvency of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), more than 100,000 Illinoisans will have their hard-earned pension benefits preserved 

Author(s): Dick Durbin, Tammy Duckworth

Publication Date: 6 March 2021

Publication Site: Dick Durbin’s Senate Office

STATE AND LOCAL CORONAVIRUS FISCAL RECOVERY FUNDS

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.naco.org/resources/featured/state-and-local-coronavirus-fiscal-recovery-funds

Excerpt:

In a major victory for America’s counties, the State and Local Coronavirus Fiscal Recovery Funds legislation, part of the American Rescue Plan Act was passed by the U.S. Senate on March 6. The bill, which now heads back to the U.S. House of Representatives for final consideration, includes $65.1 billion in direct, flexible aid to every county in America, as well as other crucial investments in local communities.  

The Senate version amends the House-adopted bill in several important ways:

The U.S. Department of Treasury would still oversee and administer these payments to state and local governments, and every county would be eligible to receive a direct allocation from Treasury. States, municipalities, and counties would now receive funds in two tranches – both tranches would provide 50 percent of the entity’s total allocation. In cases where a state has a very high level of unemployed individuals, these states may receive both tranches at the same time.
 

In order to receive a payment either under the first or second tranche, local governments must provide the U.S. Treasury with a certification signed by an authorized officer. The U.S. Treasury is required to pay first tranche to counties not later than 60-days after enactment, and second payment no earlier than 12 months after the first payment.

The table below contains projected allocations for counties from the U.S. Treasury, if the proposal is signed into law. The values are informed by the House Oversight Committee and the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The estimates are not official values from the U.S. Treasury and are subject to change.

Date Accessed: 7 March 2021

Publication Site: National Association of Counties

Peter Meijer Proposes $2,400 Stimulus Checks under ‘DOGE’ Plan

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.newsweek.com/peter-meijer-stimulus-package-doge-biden-michigan-1573963

Excerpt:

Republican congressman Peter Meijer has said that the American Rescue Plan is full of waste and has touted his own proposal to cut the price tag of the stimulus package in half while increasing payments to individuals.

The Michigan freshman representative has been pushing his own alternative to the $1.9.trillion relief package with his alternative Direct Dollars Over Government Excess, called the $DOGE Plan.

He told Fox Business that his proposal, whose title is a nod to the meme turned cryptocurrency, would put more money in the pockets of Americans and give less to individual states.

Author(s): Brendan Cole

Publication Date: 5 March 2021

Publication Site: Newsweek

GOP says ‘no’ to state and local aid as Senate heads toward vote on COVID bill

Mary Pat Campbell
GOP says ‘no’ to state and local aid as Senate heads toward vote on COVID bill

Excerpt:

Supporters of the bill — including numerous Republican mayors — say the answer is a clear “yes.” They argue that a number of states, particularly those that rely on service industries and tourism, have seen steep revenue declines, and local governments are facing deeper financial strains as they struggle to expand services with fewer employees.

“Many of our cities have furloughed workers, shrunk their workforce through attrition, cancelled police and fire recruitment efforts, and frozen capital budgets that build community infrastructure — all while absorbing additional expenses to respond to COVID, delivering essential services and reaching out to our communities that have been disproportionately affected,” a bipartisan group of Ohio mayors wrote to federal lawmakers last month.

But congressional Republicans, who also opposed including more state and local aid in the coronavirus stimulus bill approved in December, largely have been unpersuaded. They point to data showing some states outpacing their revenue projections, and argue that sending more financial help to states would unfairly reward those that locked down their economies instead of lifting restrictions on businesses.

Author(s): Laura Olson

Publication Date: 4 March 2021

Publication Site: NC Policy Watch

With Congress poised to give states and local governments $350 billion, pandemic budget hit for many was smaller than predicted

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/05/politics/state-budgets-covid-relief-package/index.html

Excerpt:

“If the point of the stimulus bill is to just prevent state and local governments from having to cut back on spending or having to implement tax increases, then the $350 billion is way too much,” said Dan White, director of public-sector research at Moody’s Analytics. “Is that money better spent directly in terms of federal fiscal stimulus, as opposed to it flowing through states? If you use that money for PPP or for enhanced unemployment insurance, does it have a bigger bang for the buck in terms of economic stimulus?”

Moody’s Analytics now pegs the state and local budget shortfall at $61 billion when taking existing federal help into account. The left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently estimated that the budget gap is around $225 billion, but it noted that that doesn’t include states’ and localities’ costs to continue fighting the virus or helping their struggling residents and businesses.

Author(s):  Tami Luhby

Publication Date: 5 March 2021

Publication Site: CNN

The hopeful news for Social Security buried in the $1.9 trillion bailout

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/retirement/the-hopeful-news-for-social-security-buried-in-the-1-9-trillion-bailout/ar-BB1eht7e?ocid=BingNews

Excerpt:

Lawmakers have moved to include in the bill an unrelated $86 billion bailout for bankrupt union pension plans.

And once they’ve done that, it’s going to be even harder for them to argue that they shouldn’t bail out the stricken Social Security trust fund that is actually their responsibility. Social Security’s deficit: $16.8 trillion, or about $50,000 for every person in America.

On the other hand, if Congress tries to weasel out of fully funding Social Security in a few years’ time, this rescue of private sector union pensions is going to look like an outrage.

Author(s): Brett Arends

Publication Date: 6 March 2021

Publication Site: MSN Money

Senate Narrowly Passes $1.9 Trillion COVID Stimulus Bill

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.nationalreview.com/news/senate-narrowly-passes-1-9-trillion-covid-stimulus-bill/

Excerpt:

The Senate voted 50-49 to pass Democrats’ $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package on Saturday, after a marathon session of voting on various amendments.

The bill was passed via budget reconciliation rules, which allow a simple majority to approve legislation in place of a filibuster-proof 60-vote threshold. The Biden administration had been pushing to pass the legislation before the week of March 14, when pandemic-related federal unemployment assistance is scheduled to expire.

The vote occurred entirely on partisan lines. Senator Dan Sullivan (R., Alaska) returned to his home state on Friday to attend the funeral of his father-in-law, meaning Vice President Kamala Harris did not need to cast a tie-breaking vote.

Author(s): ZACHARY EVANS

Publication Date: 6 March 2021

Publication Site: National Review

Too Many Smart People Are Being Too Dismissive of Inflation

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/opinion/fed-inflation-markets.html

Excerpt:

That assistance should also be more concentrated on where the need exists. According to Bloomberg, California’s revenues for this fiscal year are roughly 10 percent greater than expected (partly a result of soaring technology company valuations), while general-fund revenue in New York is estimated to be 11.7 percent lower than prepandemic forecasts.

And we should take a fine-toothed comb to lesser-known wasteful provisions, like giveaways to the airlines and an indirect bailout (added by the House) of multiemployer pension funds. Some of the money that we save by trimming the American Rescue Plan Act can be reallocated to one of our most pressing needs: infrastructure. Those funds get spent more slowly (and because of that put less immediate pressure on prices) and have the critical effect of helping to improve our unimpressive productivity growth rate.

Wasting precious dollars that could be better spent can’t possibly be worth the risk of igniting high inflation again.

Author(s): Steven Rattner

Publication Date: 5 March 2021

Publication Site: New York Times

Senate passes $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill, including $1,400 stimulus checks, with no Republican support

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-passes-1-9-trillion-covid-relief-bill-including-1-n1259795

Excerpt:

The Senate passed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package Saturday, capping off a marathon overnight session after Democrats resolved internal clashes that threatened to derail President Joe Biden’s top legislative priority.

The far-reaching legislation includes $1,400 stimulus checks, $300-per-week jobless benefits through the summer, a child allowance of up to $3,600 for one year, $350 billion for state aid, $34 billion to expand Affordable Care Act subsidies and $14 billion for vaccine distribution.

The final vote was 50-49 along party lines, with every Republican voting “no.” It came after Democrats voted down a swath of Republican amendments on repeated votes of 50-49 to avoid disrupting the delicate agreement between progressive and moderate senators.

Author(s): Sahil Kapur

Publication Date: 6 March 2021

Publication Site: NBC News

Bad Stimulus: Government Payments to Individuals Are a Terrible Way to Solve America’s Structural Economic Problems

Mary Pat Campbell
Bad Stimulus: Government Payments to Individuals Are a Terrible Way to Solve America’s Structural Economic Problems

Excerpt:

Biden’s stimulus is not the stuff of economic revolution—it’s a mix of common sense and keeping the lights on. And the fundamental thinking behind the stimulus approach reflects a continuation of neoliberal policies of the past 40 years; instead of advancing broader social programs that could uplift the population, the solutions are predicated on improving individual purchasing power and family circumstances. Such a vision of society as a collection of enterprising individuals is a hallmark of the neoliberal policy formula—which, as the stimulus bill is about to make clear, is still prevalent within the Democratic and the Republican parties. This attention to individual purchasing power promises to be the basis for bipartisan agreement over the next four years.

The reality is that social programs on health care and education, and a new era of labor and banking regulation, would put the wider society on sounder feet than a check for $1,400.

Author(s): Albena Azmanova

Publication Date: 4 March 2021

Publication Site: naked capitalism