How Much Covid Relief Do States Need?
The fiscal crisis is not as dire as Democrats say, but it’s worse than Republicans claim.
She doesn’t need as much money as she’s asking for.
Photographer: Sarah Silbilger/Bloomberg
When President Donald Trump blasted Democrats on Twitter last week over coronavirus relief, he was echoing a longstanding Republican concern that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders are attempting to use the pandemic to bail out near-bankrupt states. Democrats, meanwhile, have argued that sharp cutbacks in state and local spending after Great Recession were to blame for the slow recovery of the aughts, and are terrified of repeating that same mistake.
No one can know for sure what course the virus will take, or what state and local governments will need to do in response. Nonetheless, it seems highly implausible that they will face costs as high as Democrats expect.