New York Rep. Peter King condemned Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for saying he preferred states to file for bankruptcy rather than sending more federal aid to states and local governments as their revenues shrink during the coronavirus pandemic.
“To me, just the same as a hurricane, a tornado, a flood. When that happens to a state or region, the federal government steps in,” the Republican congressman told radio host John Catsimatidis on AM 970 in New York. “That’s what we have to have here. That’s why I was so outraged when Senator McConnell said that states should file for bankruptcy rather than get reimbursed for their coronavirus losses — which, to me, was just shameful.”
He continued, “I call him the Marie Antoinette of the Senate: ‘Let them eat cake! Let them go bankrupt!’ It’s wrong. We have to fight hard for that money. Whenever any part of the country has been hit with a natural disaster, the federal government has always stepped up.”
The latest coronavirus relief package, signed by President Trump last week, did not include funding for states and local governments. McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, told the Hugh Hewitt radio show, “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.”
“It saves some cities,” he added. “And there’s no good reason for it not to be available. My guess is their first choice would be for the federal government to borrow money from future generations to send it down to them now, so they don’t have to do that. That’s not something I’m going to be in favor of.”
McConnell’s comments drew condemnation from governors, including Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer. The Democrat told ABC’s This Week on Sunday the suggestion was “outrageous” and “incredibly dangerous.” Whitmer also said she believes most governors, whether Republican or Democrat, would disagree with McConnell.
Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called it “one of the really dumb ideas of all time.”
King said New York has regularly gotten short shrift the federal government, including when the state needed aid after Hurricane Sandy. “New York and the Northeast often get a raw deal from some other states in other parts of the country,” he said.
