July 27, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 132 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session
CRITICAL NEED FOR DIRECT, FLEXIBLE, LOCALITY ASSISTANCE; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 132
(Extensions of Remarks - July 27, 2020)
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[Extensions of Remarks] [Pages E686-E687] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] CRITICAL NEED FOR DIRECT, FLEXIBLE, LOCALITY ASSISTANCE ______ HON. MARCY KAPTUR of ohio in the house of representatives Monday, July 27, 2020 Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise to shine a light on the critical need for equitable, direct, and flexible locality assistance in upcoming COVID relief legislation in the face of the dire COVID-19 economic and public health crisis. Locality revenues have fallen precipitously, forcing communities to make overwhelmingly difficult decisions, including to furlough emergency first responders who are needed now more than ever. Due to Republican provisions that diverted CARES Act locality assistance largely to state capitals, hardworking communities under 500,000 across the nation and Northern Ohio were severely shortchanged. These provisions largely favored financial power and capital centers leaving Main Street communities behind. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Welcome to the Trump Swamp. I include in the Record an OPED I wrote to shine a light on these concerning provisions. In response, the Democratic House took action and passed the HEROES Act to provide direct assistance to every locality. Every municipality would receive assistance for two fiscal years based on a modified CDBG formula, and all counties would receive a population-based allocation. While this critical legislation passed the House of Representatives in May, it continues to languish in the Senate still awaiting action. I call on our Republican colleagues in the Senate and the Trump Administration to take action now. Too much is at stake for more handwringing. The CARES Coronavirus Relief Fund--A Robin Hood Plan for the Rich (By Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur) In this important Presidential election year, let me define a key difference between Republicans and Democrats. Democrats fight for all people. Republicans don't. That is why Democrats created Social Security and Medicare for every American. That is why Democrats are fighting to pass the HEROES Act (H.R. 6800) to help all people in communities impacted by the COVID-19 recession. Republicans are not. Every American can gauge the fairness or unfairness of the Republican-drafted CARES Act (H.R. 748) vs. the Democratic- drafted HEROES bill by their return of your tax dollars to help your community. Despite the proportionally higher COVID-19 infection rates in the time of greatest human need, the majority of northern Ohio communities I represent like Cleveland, Lorain, Sandusky, and Toledo got nothing that can be described as fair or proportionate from the CARES Act. How can this be as Donald Trump kicked off his 2020 campaign in northern Ohio in Toledo on January 9, 2020? He made countless promises to help the City and its people. He promised his audience steel jobs were back at nearby Lorain mills, which was an outright falsehood. Let's do a bit of simple math. If $150 billion of the CARES State/Local Coronavirus Relief Fund were divided equally per capita based on U.S. population in each jurisdiction, every community in our nation would be receiving close to $454.50 per person times the population of that community. In a fair allocation formula, that amount of funding would be multiplied by the population of the jurisdiction (based on the most recent Census data) to obtain a fair share of federal CARES support to your community. If your community, for example, has a population of 100 people, your community would get back $45,450 to help preserve your emergency coverage or pay your community's part time doctor. In Lorain, with a population of 64,000, this would equal $29 million. Instead, Lorain gets $0. In Cleveland, with a population of 384,000, this would equal $174 million. Instead Cleveland gets $0. Mind you, our communities were not the only ones completely shortchanged. In Flint, Michigan with a population of 96,000, a fair allocation would return $44 million. Instead, Flint gets $0. In Pittsburgh, PA with a population of 301,048, a fair return would be $137 million. Instead, Pittsburgh gets $0. Gary, IN with a population of 75,000, should have received $34 million. Instead, Gary gets $0. Duluth, MN has a population of 86,000, and should have received $39 million. Instead, Duluth gets $0. Des Moines, IA has a population of 217,000, and should have received $99 million. Instead, it gets $0. Little Rock, AR, with a population of 198,000, should have received $90 million. Instead, it gets $0. Jackson, MS has a population of 164,422. Its fair share would have been $75 million, yet it got $0. The list of losers across the Heartland and South is long: Peoria, St. Louis, Kenosha, Charleston, Des Moines, New Orleans, Selma, Birmingham, St. Paul, Grand Rapids, Nashville, and many others. Senate Republicans drafted a Robin Hood bill for the rich. Their numbers-juggling took from struggling communities and transferred funds to the richest. The Trump formula tilts heavily against Main Street America. It diverts critical funds to financial power and capital city centers, and essentially metropolises with over 500,000 persons. For example, New York City received $1.45 billion, San Francisco $154 million, and Chicago $469 million. Based on an equitable, per capita distribution of CARES Coronavirus Relief Funds, each Congressional District should have received close to $345 million. Instead, while districts with the highest median income were taken care of, those with the lowest median incomes clearly lost out. In fact, the urban district I represent ranks 403 out of 435 congressional districts in median income per household, and received nothing that could be considered fair. Of the top 30 wealthiest Congressional Districts, all but two received a handsome allocation. Yet, for the bottom 86 Districts, only 20 received something close to equitable. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Welcome to the Trump swamp. Further, due to provisions included in the CARES Act by Republican Senators and the White House, over $87.5 billion in CARES funding is slated directly to a majority of [[Page E687]] Republican controlled State capitals to distribute. To be exact, 59% of all State legislatures controlled by Republicans will redistribute your tax dollars. As a result, state governments will determine through a lopsided political process, which communities do and don't receive federal relief dollars. For example, a recent Ohio Senate Bill (S.B. 310) proposes to distribute only 7.7% of its $4.533 billion federal allocation to localities, which translates to $29.90 per capita vs. a fair allocation of $454.50 per capita from the CARES Act. At a time of such national stress, how repugnant is this Republican unequal distribution. In effect, communities across Northern Ohio are being shortchanged and losing millions of dollars: Cleveland (-$163 million), Toledo (-$117 million), Lorain (-$27 million), Lakewood (-$22 million), and Parma (-$33.4 million). COMPARATIVE RETURN OF FEDERAL FUNDS TO COMMUNITIES, CARES VS. HEROES ACT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CARES Equal Per CARES Capita Estimated Ohio FY20 Estimated FY21 Estimated Locality Locality Allocations Allocations (S.B. HEROES HEROES Allocations (Theoretical) 310 Pending) Allocations Allocations -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Toledo......................................................... $0 $124,976,138 $10,078,625 $362,033,245 $181,016,622 Sandusky....................................................... $0 $11,232,513 $509,672 $35,551,881 $17,775,940 Lorain......................................................... $0 $29,100,726 $3,305,501 $58,997,836 $29,498,918 Parma.......................................................... $0 $35,792,330 $2,388,115 $46,518,935 $23,259,467 Lakewood....................................................... $0 $23,508,558 $2,352,577 $96,486,908 $48,243,454 Cleveland...................................................... $0 $174,433,919 $31,665,995 $1,038,682,671 $519,341,336 Cincinnati..................................................... $0 $137,533,974 $15,659,518 $559,404,059 $279,702,030 Dayton......................................................... $0 $63,920,880 $8,095,038 $282,218,173 $141,109,087 Youngstown..................................................... $0 $29,523,411 $1,967,717 $170,034,169 $85,017,085 Akron.......................................................... $0 $89,993,727 $8,012,136 $294,247,102 $147,123,551 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the CARES Act, Republican rural, and small states were also guaranteed $1.5 billion regardless of their population, or COVID infection rates. When topline CARES states/locality funding is analyzed and the allocation divided evenly by population, Ohio received an average $388 per capita. Yet, Republican states like South Dakota received $1,413 per capita, Alaska received $1,709, Wyoming $2,160, and North Dakota $1,640. How is a hard-working Ohioan from a community that has already suffered deindustrialization and outsourcing worth less than other Americans? CARES ACT STATE PER CAPITA ALLOCATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Per Capita CARES State Act Funding Allocation ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ohio................................................. $388 Alaska............................................... $1,709 North Dakota......................................... $1,640 South Dakota......................................... $1,413 Idaho................................................ $699 Nebraska............................................. $646 Wyoming.............................................. $2,160 Delaware............................................. $1,284 Montana.............................................. $1,170 Kansas............................................... $429 Maine................................................ $930 West Virginia........................................ $697 Mississippi.......................................... $420 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ To address these grievous injustices, I led an effort to request Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to certify ``Locality'' assistance of northern Ohio's two economic regions whose population does exceed 500,000 persons--the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency's (NOACA) and Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments' (TMACOG). Secretary Mnuchin dismissed the requests out of hand stating, ``Treasury relied on data from the U.S. Census Bureau.'' Our regions should qualify by any reasonable measure of economic performance, COVID-19, and population distribution. In effect, the CARES Act authorizes the disbursement of an enormous sum of money back to only some communities, but not all. The bill picks winners and losers. It does not give equal amounts based on population and certainly not need. It is very lopsided. By contrast, the HEROES Act leaves no community out. This bill would provide a fairer allocation to municipalities for two fiscal years based on a modified Community Development Block Grant formula. All counties would receive direct funding based on population. While this legislation has passed the House of Representatives, it is sitting in the Senate and awaiting action. Democratic Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal best summed up Democratic dismay: ``Remember, Democrats control only one half of one third of the government of the United States.'' The American people now must keep their eyes peeled on the Republican Senate and their state legislatures. Otherwise, millions of Americans are going to face their municipalities declaring bankruptcy with the massive furloughing of police officers, firefighters, emergency service personnel, and other first responders. Bankruptcy of America's communities may be Senator Mitch McConnell's solution. That is barbarian. We owe a fair shake to the American people in all our communities. Let's fix the skewed formula in the CARES Act. Ensure population-based, fair allocations of federal coronavirus relief funding in future legislation. Democrats must lead with equity. Shortchange no region. Restore fairness to the American people. ____________________