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SANTA FE, NM (AP) – Wrong inaction In Washington, state governors and lawmakers rush to get pandemic relief for small business owners, the unemployed, tenants and others whose livelihoods have been upset by the widening coronavirus epidemic.
In some cases, elected officials are spending the last part of a federal relief package passed in the spring as the year-end deadline approaches, and the fall of COVID-19 in the fall is threatening their economies again. Democrats have been the most vocal in criticizing President Donald Trump and the GOP-controlled Senate for failing to act, but many Republican lawmakers are also sounding the alarm bells.
Highlighting the need for the emergency, the number of new COVID-19 cases reported in the United States reached 205,557 on Friday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University – the first time its daily figure has crossed the threshold. 200,000. Its previous daily high was 196,000 on November 20.
The total number of reported cases in the United States, since the first in January, has exceeded 13 million.
The Democratic governors of Colorado and New Mexico called special legislative sessions in the final days of November to address the emergency related to the virus. Earlier this week, the New Mexico legislature passed a bipartisan relief bill that will issue a one-time check for $ 1,200 to all unemployed people and give up to $ 50,000 to some businesses.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said the state has taken steps to help residents “who have real problems keeping food on their tables with a roof over their heads.”
“While the United States of America is on fire, the Trump administration has left states to fight this virus on their own,” she said, noting that states’ efforts alone are simply not enough. . “It is clear that no help is coming – neither from this president nor from this administration. As we have done every day this year, New Mexico will engage. “
In Colorado, a special session scheduled for Monday will consider around $ 300 million in aid for businesses, restaurants and bars, daycares, landlords, tenants, public schools and others.
“Even as cases have exploded across the country, Congress and the President have yet to provide much needed relief to the people,” Colorado Governor Jared Polis said in announcing the session. “Here in Colorado we want to do our best with what we need to take care of.”
In New Jersey and Washington State, Republicans who are a minority in both legislatures were the ones pushing for special sessions. They want to spend more money on struggling small business owners.
Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin, who control both houses of the legislature, plan to return in December to tackle the effects of the latest wave of coronavirus after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers introduced a relief bill of $ 500 million COVID-19 earlier this week. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, plans to summon lawmakers in December to tackle the virus, in part at the behest of Republicans.
“Senate Republicans are committed to reclaiming our economy which has been harmed by large and prolonged shutdowns,” Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said in a statement. “We will work with anyone to find solutions.”
State government leaders want Trump and Congress to extend the Dec. 30 deadline for spending virus relief funds already allocated under the CARES law, which was approved in March, and to provide more federal funding to deal with the consequences of the latest wave.
“It’s just heartbreaking that they allow it to happen without intervention from the federal government,” said Washington State House of Representatives Speaker Laurie Jinkins, Democrat.
In making his decision to call the Minnesota Legislature in special session, Walz cited “a sense of urgency” around doing something at the state level due to the lack of a federal response.
The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits reported that more than half of the state’s charities this year received forgivable loans under the CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program, while an additional $ 12 million of the CARES law goes to organizations that provide food to the needy. But it will all be spent – or lost – at the end of December without congressional action.
“I would like to repeat to our federal partners – the outgoing administration and the incoming Biden administration – please work together, please find a compromise in this, please. If you have to move a bundle now with the idea that you’ll come back and move a bundle later, ”Walz said. “COVID will not end at the end of the month. We are in a relentless peak. “
In Ohio, where Republicans control every branch of government, Gov. Mike DeWine and legislative leaders passed a $ 420 million pandemic spending program through a special bipartisan panel at the end last month. Funded by the CARES Act, it has provided grants to small businesses, bars and restaurants, low-income tenants, arts groups, and colleges and universities.
Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Kerry Benningoff, a Republican, praises the federal government for billions in aid previously sent, but said small businesses and people who have lost their jobs need more federal aid.
“The elections are over,” Benninghoff said. “Now is not the time to point fingers.”
In neighboring New Jersey, the partisan divide of more than $ 4 billion in COVID-19 loans backed by the Democratic governor and legislature has sparked a court challenge by minority Republicans. The state’s high court sided with Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration, citing the unprecedented nature of the outbreak.
Even so, Murphy regularly pleaded with Congress for more help.
“It is shameful that they did not act in Congress, in particular (Senate Majority Leader Mitch) McConnell and the Republican Senate, to throw a lifeline for small businesses,” he said. declared.
Republicans have offered $ 300 million in aid to small businesses and nonprofits, but the legislation is blocked. GOP lawmakers have told the governor if he does not call for a special session to meet the need, many businesses and charities “may not survive the winter.”
Lawmakers in one state, Illinois, raised their hands and returned home despite an unresolved budget deficit of $ 3.9 billion. They cited the health threat posed by the virus and hope for help from the nation’s capital.
“If the federal government doesn’t stand up and step in, we’re in a terrible situation – for our schools, colleges and universities, health care programs, daycares, senior services,” said Greg Harris, a democrat, leader of the parliamentary majority, told me. “It’s not like all the blue states are hurting and all the red states are buzzing. Everyone is in bad shape.
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Carr Smyth reported from Columbus, Ohio. Associated Press editors Jim Anderson and Patricia Nieberg in Denver; Michael Catalini in Newark, NJ; Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis; Rachel La Corte in Olympia, Washington; Geoff Mulvihill in Davenport, Iowa; John O’Connor in Springfield, Illinois; and Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.
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Nieberg and Attanasio are body members of the Associated Press / Report for America Statehouse Initiative. Report for America is a national, nonprofit service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on secret issues.
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