Cities and states, scrambling again for adequate personal protective equipment and medical supplies to meet the resurgent coronavirus, are also having to scrap for dwindling federal funds. The $150 billion passed in the CARES Act back in March was not large enough and had too many restrictions, and since April, Sen. Mitch McConnell has refused to consider any further aid, blocking the follow-up HEROES Act the House passed in May. So states and localities, which have experienced massive declines in revenue with shutdown economies, are fighting with each other for what's left over from March.
State and local leaders say they need a minimum of $500 billion and as much as $1 trillion to operate without the restrictions put on the first round of funds. The $150 billion passed in the spring was limited to spending on coronavirus-related expenses, so it couldn't be used to help fill funding gaps. The formula used to allocate spending also limited aid to smaller cities, not providing them adequate funds. The scarcity of funds has led to states hoarding, and about $18 billion has been put aside by state officials for the smallest localities—an inadequate pot even for those entities. "They've sat on this for months. They've cut it into pieces so there's only a third left coming to local government," said Brad Cole, the executive director of the Illinois Municipal League. "How do you think we feel about it?"
Senate Republicans are still bitching about the money that's already been spent and are resisting more. McConnell has backed down from his "let them go bankrupt" position after getting criticism from even fellow Republicans. But he's also managed to stretch this crisis out to the breaking point, not letting further aid to states pass since March.
He still conditions that aid—and every other bit of help to the nation in this crisis—on limiting liability for schools and businesses that reopen. So if your employer forces you back to work—and they can, since you can be denied unemployment if you're fired for not returning—and doesn't protect you, and you get the coronavirus and die, your family can't sue your boss. Because your puny life and your family's well-being, even their existence, does not matter one tiny bit to him. Or any other "pro-life" Republican.
Now cash-strapped cities and counties are having to spend money on lobbyists—at least 28 lobbying firms have been registered to lobby for them since March—to try to convince Congress that they need more help. The HEROES Act provided $1 trillion for local aid, but now McConnell is saying that the entire bill can't exceed that amount. "State and local governments had to balance their budgets by the end of June," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said last week when responding to McConnell's line in the sand. "We've gone past the deadline but we haven't gone past the need."
She's going to have to do what she did last time: Cut McConnell out of the negotiations and work with the White House and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is as evil as the rest of the Trumpers but at least has some idea of what's necessary to do to stave off another Great Depression. White House spokesman Judd Deere said that it is at least "open to targeted assistance for states and localities." There are at least three vulnerable Senate Republicans who want more money for their home states—Thom Tillis in North Carolina, Susan Collins in Maine, and Cory Gardner in Colorado. They're backing their Republican colleague Bill Cassidy, who's got a bill with $500 billion to cities and states. "I've always said, as people become aware of the financial straits hitting their states and towns, they would become aware of the wisdom of what we're trying to do," he told The Washington Post. "I think colleagues will come around to this because it's good policy, and because it's good policy it will be good politics."
Now things are looking a great deal dicier for many more of McConnell's Republicans, with Republicans freaking out over their inability to shake Trump's anchor effect. They might be able to overrule their leader and get serious aid where it needs to go: their home states.