Letter to Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker, and Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader - Blunt Rochester Calls for Small State Minimums in Next COVID-19 Relief Package

Letter

Dear Speaker Pelosi and Leader McCarthy,

Thank you for your leadership in passing bipartisan legislation to address the urgent needs of the American people as we confront the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the resulting economic devastation. As Congress prepares for a Phase 4 package to help address the deepening economic crisis in the United States, we respectfully request that you prioritize all states, regardless of population size, in state and local aid provisions. Specifically, we have deep concerns that small states, like the ones we represent, will be inadvertently left behind in qualifying for critically needed federal aid during this pandemic.

The COVID-19 emergency presents an unprecedented threat to state and local governments -- and the irreplaceable services they provide to our communities. Given this, we respectfully request that the next COVID-19 response package contains the following priorities in state and local aid:

1. Small State Minimum: Expressly require a minimum amount of direct aid to states for aid provided to both states and local governments. Without this specific priority, small states and the localities within their borders would receive a disproportionately insufficient share of the aid distributed because funds would be based on population only, with no small state minimum. Although our states are small in population, our dire economic circumstances are real and need sufficient aid from the federal government to have a meaningful impact for our communities.

2. Revenue Losses: Aid for state and local governments must be able to cover revenue losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As our economies have ground to a halt during this global health crisis, our states and communities face critical revenue losses that will cripple our public services and schools for years to come if federal aid does not cover revenue losses.

Thank you for your consideration of this urgent request.