Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that Republicans won’t support legislation that would provide billions in economic aid to help states replenish underfunded pension funds.
McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, told the Hugh Hewitt radio show he will not rush to pass a new and massive economic aid package Democrats are now crafting that would provide billions more to state and local governments coping with economic losses caused by the coronavirus and to support troubled pension programs.
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“We’re going to push the pause button here because I think this whole business of additional assistance for state and local governments needs to be thoroughly evaluated,” McConnell told Hewitt.
Democrats on Tuesday said they are writing an economic aid package “along the lines” of a $2.2 trillion funding bill President Trump signed into law on March 28. Congress has passed three economic aid bills so far and is poised to pass a fourth measure on Thursday worth $484 billion.
Democrats yesterday said their next economic aid bill would prioritize providing massive aid to state and local governments to cope with revenue losses caused by the economic slowdown. They said the bill would also include bonuses for those working in grocery stores and healthcare facilities and a bailout of the U.S. Postal Service, which has lost revenue during the coronavirus outbreak but has long been in debt.
While Democrats are eager to pass even more spending measures in response to the coronavirus outbreak, many Republicans want to slow down on federal bailout measures, which are significantly increasing the national debt.
Trump signaled in a tweet that he’ll consider local and state funding in the next spending bill, along with “much needed Infrastructure Investments for Bridges, Tunnels, Broadband, Tax Incentives for Restaurants, Entertainment, Sports, and Payroll Tax Cuts to increase Economic Growth.”
McConnell, however, said his party will not support providing money to help states pay for pension programs that overpromised benefits and ended up without enough money.
McConnell said he favored changing the law to allow states to file for bankruptcy rather than relying on federal tax dollars.
“There’s not going to be any desire on the Republican side to bail out state pensions by borrowing money from future generations,” McConnell said. “These are all taxing authorities, just like we are, and I think that’s why we need to have a fulsome, conference-wide discussion among Senate Republicans before we go down this path.”
