Dems eye money for smaller cities in next virus bill

Eying a major expansion of federal assistance, top Democrats are promising that smallto medium-sized cities and counties and small towns that were left out of four prior coronavirus bills will receive hundreds of billions of dollars in the next one.

Those cities and counties, where the coronavirus has crippled Main Street and caused local tax revenues to plummet, are pushing hard for relief in the next rescue measure to avert cuts in ser- vices and layoffs of workers.

It’s an effort that the large class of freshman House Democrats has rallied around, along with many Republicans, and has the back- ing of key decision-makers like House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The initial number in an upcoming bill from House Democrats could total $800 billion or more, though it’s likely to shrink in any final measure negotiated with Senate Republicans and the White House. That would be more than the huge amounts delivered to the Paycheck Protection Program, the small business relief fund that is especially popular with Republicans.

An earlier, smaller install- ment of money to local governments was limited to cities with populations greater than 500,000. That threshold channeled money to COVID-19 hot spots like New York City and Atlanta but passed over thousands of smaller jurisdictions packed into each of the 435 congressional districts.

Lowey has announced the upcoming, and fifth, coronavirus response bill will contain money for each county in the U.S., based on population, along with an equal amount of funding for municipalities.

“Unlike the initial CARES Act, I think it is vital we have separate programs for state and local governments, so there is less competition between governors, municipal leaders, and county executives,” Lowey said is a recent letter to her colleagues. Pelosi, D-Calif., is encouraging the effort.

The approximately $2 trillion CARES Act, which passed in late March, was the largest of the coronavirus relief bills so far. Democrats successfully pressed for $150 billion in aid to states and local governments, with $120 billion of that aid going to state governments to reimburse them for costs associated with fighting COVID-19.

The other $30 billion went to cities with populations greater than 500,000, which helped cities represented by top leaders like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., whose home base of Louisville was eligible.

That turn of events angered some lawmakers, including newly-elected Democrats from suburban areas left out of the first round.

“There are a number of us who were obviously disappointed” in the first round of the CARES Act, said Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo. “All the suburban, swing counties, rural areas ... were left behind.”