Gov. Laura Kelly today testified before a House Committee, asking for more support for state and local governments from the federal government to deal with COVID-19’s economic effects.
“We will need significantly more support from our federal partners to protect our institutions from drastic and damaging cuts,” Gov. Kelly said in her testimony to the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services.
Gov. Kelly testified that Kansas was just getting back on its feet, recovering from the Brownback tax cut of 2012, when it was hit with the pandemic of 2020.
“This pandemic is different, and the fix isn’t as simple as just tightening our belt buckle,” she said. “Our federal partners must step in and help.
“I know firsthand that cutting local and state government funding will hamstring states’ ability to fight the pandemic and leave us more vulnerable to future crises.
“Severe budget cuts don’t create small government. They create failed government.
“Governments that can’t provide the essential services and investments this country was built on: good schools, stable infrastructure, a solid social safety net, and a robust economy,” Gov. Kelly said.
“We need the federal government to support states and support Kansans who are struggling,” she said.
“We need a coherent, top-down strategy that will reassure businesses and Americans that our government has a plan to keep our economy stable until a vaccine is available,” she said.
Also testifying before the House Committee were Govs. Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico; Tim Walz, Minnesota; Lourdes “Lou” Leon Guerrero, Guam. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of Amercan Action Forum, also testified.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-3rd Dist., released a statement after the hearing:
“I want to thank Governor Kelly for her leadership and for advocating on behalf of the needs of all Kansans today. It’s clear that Kansas needs emergency relief to avoid severe cuts to our public schools, roads, fire departments, public health agencies, and other essential services Kansans depend on. That would hurt our economy even more and make the damage last longer. Kansans have been down this road before.
“After going through the failed Brownback tax experiment, which devastated our budget, we know firsthand how harmful severe state budget cuts can be for our families and communities.
“This is a national emergency and it requires a national solution – states and local governments can’t be expected to address these challenges on their own. I will continue to push congressional leaders and the Administration to pass another coronavirus relief bill that includes aid to state and local governments. That legislation also needs to include support for workers and small businesses, widespread and rapid testing, and personal protective equipment so we can control this virus to save lives and save our economy. Other nations around the globe have done a much better job of controlling this virus – and we should expect nothing less from ours.”
Holtz-Eakin testified that the tax bases of state and local governments held up better than expected, and that this is now a low-wage worker recession. States are experiencing different conditions, based on their circumstances, according to Holtz-Eakin. The governments did better in the second quarter than the economy as a whole, according to Holtz-Eakin. The best help for them to get revenues is growth, according to Holtz-Eakin.