一些人说，州长们可能最终会得到他们梦寐以求的5000亿美元的联邦冠状病毒援助，但是魔鬼新闻周刊，是在细节上。
参议员鲍勃·梅嫩德斯(民主党)和比尔·卡西迪(共和党)提议为州和地方政府设立5000亿美元的基金，作为下一个冠状病毒救助计划的一部分。州和市恢复和过渡援助法案将根据人口、感染率和收入损失来分配资金。
考虑到与COVID-19病毒爆发相关的立法中的党派内讧，这是全国州长协会要求的精确数量，这是一个壮举。在周二致国会的一封信中，由州长安德鲁·科莫和拉里·霍根领导的NGA刚刚再次要求拨款5000亿美元，以抵消健康危机带来的收入损失。
新泽西州州长菲尔·墨菲称赞了这个提议，并告诉新闻周刊它“将在这个前所未有的时期为我们提供关键资源，并防止严厉的预算削减，这将对我们州的财政稳定和满足新泽西州900万居民需求的能力产生负面影响。”
州政府委员会主任大卫·阿金斯告诉记者新闻周刊该法案是“有希望的”,它可能足以抵消预计的15%和20%的收入损失，或大约4000至5000亿美元，各州将经历由于冠状病毒大流行。
“这5000亿美元，如果足够灵活以弥补收入损失，将有助于各州渡过难关，而不会大幅削减目前急需的服务:警察、消防部门、医院和医疗保健人员，”他说。
卡西迪-梅嫩德斯提案将是这样运作的:三分之一的资金，即1660亿美元，将提供给所有50个州和哥伦比亚特区。然后剩余的钱将根据一个州在美国总感染率中所占的份额以及政府因冠状病毒相关限制而遭受的收入损失来分配。
它还将扩大适用范围，将人口在50，000或以上的县和镇包括在内——目前联邦援助的门槛是500，000——尽管即使有所扩大，仍有可能将数千个城市排除在外。
“大约有780个城市将受益于该法案，美国大约有19，000个城市。因此，现实是，随着该法案的提出，许多城市、城镇和村庄都将被砍掉，”全国城市联盟的联邦宣传主任伊尔玛·埃斯帕扎·迪格斯告诉记者新闻周刊。迪格斯说，全国民主联盟将“张开双臂”支持该法案，但为了获得两党的大力支持，它需要为较小的社区做更多的事情。
尽管该法案似乎包含了州长公开要求的大部分内容，但它可能不会在国会获得通过——至少不会很快通过。议员们仍在休会，直到5月4日，参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔已经提出了第四个冠状病毒刺激方案。
“我认为现在也是时候开始考虑我们为国家增加的债务数量以及未来的影响了，”麦康奈尔周二对记者表示。他表示，随着经济继续停滞，他对批准数十亿美元的一揽子计划持谨慎态度。“让我们非常仔细地权衡一下，因为我们国家的未来就我们累积的债务数量而言是一个真正令人担忧的问题。”
2020年4月17日，纽约州长安德鲁·科莫在纽约奥尔巴尼举行了关于冠状病毒危机的新闻发布会
民主党曾试图在以前的立法一揽子计划中包括更多的联邦政府对各州的援助，但没有成功。据报道，当民主党人试图将资金投入到周二通过的最新4800亿美元法案中时，共和党人称这个问题是“不可行的”，该法案主要包括对小企业救助项目的拨款。到目前为止，各州和地方政府仅从联邦政府获得了1500亿美元的援助，作为《关爱法案》的一部分。
但是时机已经成为各州的主要问题。州长科莫表示，如果医院、学校和地方政府不能很快获得联邦援助，纽约将不得不削减20%的资金。科莫所在的州是美国冠状病毒爆发的中心。
“这有点像一个输血的病人，你越快给他们输血，结果就越好，”阿金斯说。“收入从未像现在这样跌落悬崖，而且是全面的。”
然后在周三，共和党高层似乎直接给各州的联邦援助泼冷水。他告诉保守派电台主持人休·休伊特(Hugh Hewitt)，议员们“还没有准备好给各州和地方政府发一张空白支票，让他们随心所欲地花钱。”
麦康奈尔补充道，“我们需要进行一场全面的辩论，不仅是关于我们是否做州和地方，他们将如何花费它。”
阿金斯说，这意味着该法案在此过程中可能会被淡化或修改。
他说:“我确实认为提案中包含的想法值得考虑，但我不认为它会成为向各州分配资金的工具。”。
SENATE BILL COULD GIVE GOVERNORS $500 BILLION THEY'RE ASKING FOR IN CORONAVIRUS AID—IF IT MAKES IT THROUGH CONGRESS
Governors may finally get their long-sought-after $500 billion in federal coronavirus aid but the devil, several told Newsweek, is in the details.
Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Bill Cassidy (R-L.A.) have proposed a $500 billion fund for state and local governments as part of the next coronavirus relief package. The State and Municipal Aid for Recovery and Transition (SMART) bill would distribute the money according to population, infection rates and revenue loss.
It's the exact amount requested by the National Governors Association, which is a feat, considering the partisan infighting that has surrounded legislation related to the COVID-19 outbreak. The NGA—led by Governors Andrew Cuomo and Larry Hogan—just re-upped their request for $500 billion to offset revenue losses brought on by the health crisis in a letter to Congress on Tuesday.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy praised the proposal, and told Newsweek that it "will provide us with a critical resource during this unprecedented time and prevent draconian budget cuts that would negatively impact our state's fiscal stability and ability to meet the needs of New Jersey's nine million residents."
David Adkins, the director of the Council for State Governments, told Newsweek that the bill is "promising" and that it could be just enough to offset the expected 15 percent and 20 percent revenue loss, or roughly $400 to $500 billion, states will experience due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"This $500 billion amount, if it's flexible enough to replace revenue losses, would help states weather the storm without significant cuts to the very services that are needed right now: police, fire department, hospitals and health care workers," he said.
The Cassidy-Menendez proposal would work like this: One-third of the funds, or $166 billion, would be provided to all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Then the rest of the money would be divvied up according to a state's share of the total U.S. infection rate and the loss of revenue that governments have experienced due to coronavirus-related restrictions.
It would also expand eligibility to include counties and towns with populations of 50,000 or greater—the current threshold for federal aid is 500,000—although even with the expansions, it's still likely to exclude thousands of cities.
"There are approximately 780 municipalities that would benefit from this bill and there are approximately 19,000 municipalities in the United States. So the reality is, as the bill is proposed now, many cities, towns and villages would be cut out," Irma Esparza Diggs, the director of federal advocacy at the National League of Cities, told Newsweek. Diggs said the NLC would support the bill with "open arms," but that in order for it to build strong bipartisan support it needs to do more for smaller communities.
While the bill appears to include much of what governors have publicly asked for, it may not make it through Congress—at least not anytime soon. Lawmakers are still in recess until May 4 and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is already pumping the breaks on the fourth coronavirus stimulus package.
"I think it's also time to begin to think about the amount of debt we're adding to our country and the future impact of that," McConnell told reporters Tuesday, indicating he's wary of approving billion-dollar packages as the economy continues to stall. "Let's weigh this very carefully because the future of our country in terms of the amount of debt that we're adding up is a matter of genuine concern."
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo gives his a press briefing about the coronavirus crisis on April 17, 2020, in Albany, New York
Democrats have attempted to include more federal aid for states in the previous legislative packages but were unsuccessful. Republicans reportedly called the issue a "non-starter" when Democrats tried to push the funding into the latest $480 billion bill passed Tuesday, which mostly included money for small business relief programs. So far, states and local municipalities have received just $150 billion in aid from the federal government as part of the CARES Act.
But timing has become a major issue for states. Governor Cuomo, whose state is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, has indicated that New York will have to cut funding for hospitals, schools and local governments by 20 percent if they don't get the federal aid soon.
"It's a little like a patient with a blood transfusion, the sooner you can get it to them the better the result," Adkins said. "Revenue has never dropped off a precipice like it is now and it's across the board."
Then on Wednesday, the top Republican seemed to pour cold water directly on federal aid to states. He told the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that lawmakers are "not ready to just send a blank check down to states and local governments to spend any way they choose to."
McConnell added that "we need to have a full debate not only about if we do state and local, how will they spend it."
That means the bill is likely to be watered down or altered during the process, Adkins said.
"I do think the ideas contained in the proposal are worthy of consideration but I would not anticipate that it becomes the vehicle by which funding to the states is allocated," he said.
