On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated that Congress will "probably" pass additional funding for state and local governments in forthcoming coronavirus relief bills. This comes after McConnell suggested last week that states with massive gaps in their budget as a result of the coronavirus pandemic should be allowed to declare bankruptcy. As a possible condition for this funding lifeline, he suggested that any future package would need to include provisions to provide liability protection for health care workers and for businesses and their employees seeking to come back to work.

On Tuesday, President Trump added another possible condition for providing federal assistance to states and local governments, by suggesting that funding could be tied to whether so-called sanctuary cities make adjustments to their immigration policies. The President expressed his hesitation toward granting federal aid to states because he does not want money going to local governments that he considers to have been managed poorly.

Along with our federal partner – NACo – RCRC continues to aggressively push for direct federal assistance to states and counties. Congress allocated $150 billion to states in the $2.2 trillion CARES Act last month. Many state and local leaders say that this is not nearly enough to address their both their costs to address the pandemic as well as falling revenue receipts. The National Governors Association (NGA), chaired by Governor Larry Hogan (R-Maryland), has called for Congress to provide states with a combined $500 billion in federal assistance.