Letter to Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader - Stefanik Sends Letter to Leader McConnell In Support of State and Local Funding

Letter

Dear Leader McConnell:

Thank you for your work to negotiate and pass coronavirus relief legislation necessary to
combat against the unprecedented health crisis we face as a nation today. While these relief packages
have provided great assistance to keep Americans employed and small businesses operating, more
needs to be done. We must provide funding to state and local governments so that cops, firefighters,
healthcare workers and all first responders can continue to do their jobs uninhibited to keep the rest of
us safe.

Limiting the spread of coronavirus has required our local governments to put in place social
distancing measures and cancel large gatherings to limit physical interaction. One of the many
consequences has been the drastic reduction of tax revenue, severely impacting New York's revenue
stream. Though these measures were necessary, it has caused significant economic damage to both
businesses and local governments. State and local governments are typically required to balance their
budget. This is forcing them to propose massive cuts to their budgets for education, law enforcement,
transportation and other services. This will cost thousands of teachers, healthcare workers and first
responders their jobs.

While the CARES Act included $150 billion to support state budgets, many municipalities
were left without direct assistance. Further, it has become clear that the funds already provided are not
close to what is enough to combat against the coronavirus and the significant loss of revenue that has
already been dealt to state and local governments. In delivering assistance to local municipalities, we must
also ensure maintenance of effort from the state is required. Federal aid to localities must be in addition to
state aid, not in lieu of it. We urge you to bring legislation to the floor of the Senate without further delay
to provide the necessary funding urgently needed for state and local governments. Too much is at stake to
do otherwise.

Sincerely,