Governors seek $500B to make up costs related to coronavirus
WASHINGTON — The nation’s governors sent a blunt message to Congress on Saturday that they will need $500 billion to cover budget shortfalls from preparing and treating patients with the coronavirus — including those in Nevada.
The National Governors Association, a bipartisan group headed by Govs. Larry Hogan, R-Md., and Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., said severe budget cuts are looming as tax revenues drop.
Nowhere is that more apparent than in Nevada, where the casino and tourism industry, which makes up 40 percent of revenue for the state budget, has been shuttered by the coronavirus, which has closed casinos, hotels, restaurants and entertainment and sports venues.
Governors from both major political parties also have voiced frustration with the federal response, which has been caught up in partisan bickering in Congress and with the White House.
“Governors across the country are leading the on-the-ground response to the national COVID-19 pandemic,” the governors wrote, “implementing a variety of stay-at-home orders and other aggressive measures that are successfully flattening the curve of the spread of the speed of the virus.
“While these public health strategies are working to protect the American people, they result in catastrophic damage to state economies,” the governors wrote.
A spokeswoman for Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak emailed a statement Saturday night that noted the governor supports the NGA message to Congress and also cited the state’s efforts to protect the health and safety of Nevadans and to flatten the curve.
“The life-saving measures are having devastating economic implications on Nevada and Gov. Sisolak joins his fellow governors in seeking assistance and funding flexibility from the federal government,” the statement read.
Sisolak’s finance office told state agencies Friday in a letter obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal to expect cuts of 4 percent this year and up to 16 percent in 2021.
Those proposed cuts could total up to roughly $687 million over the two-year budget.
The Nevada Legislature meets every two years to set its spending budgets to fund the government.
The NGA told Congress that while the most recent $2.2 trillion spending bill included relief for states and cities, none was allowed to offset spending shortfalls.
And those funds became a flash point for governors because of restrictions on how the money could be spent.
States and cities around the country are largely footing the bill for preparation and treatment of the pandemic.
Governors and mayors have warned that the result could be layoffs of workers who provide essential services.
“To stabilize state budgets and to make sure states have the resources to battle the virus and provide the services American people rely on, Congress must provide immediate fiscal assistance directly to all states,” the governors wrote.
Democrats blocked a Senate bill last week that would have added $250 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program offered by the Small Business Association through local banks. The bill was blocked after Democrats sought an additional $100 billion for hospitals and $150 billion for states and cities.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Congress would begin writing a fourth relief package to address shortfalls and needs that could be passed when lawmakers return later this month.
President Donald Trump has said the nation’s governors are heading the effort against the coronavirus that has killed more than 2,000 Americans over the past two months.
Trump has pledged federal assistance to states in the battle against the coronavirus, but has often been at odds with public health officials about the direction to stop the virus from spreading.
The federal government, despite most states, has not issued a lockdown or stay-at-home orders that many governors declared through executive order.
Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter. Carson City Bureau Chief Colton Lochhead contributed to this report.
