COMMENTARY | States and municipalities who have had to adopt remote services amid the coronavirus pandemic should scale up their digital infrastructure to maintain their ability to collect and reconcile payments. Doing so will help them to prevent disruptions to revenue flows and services.
The late passage of the coronavirus relief package and new requirements for verifying benefits are complicating the rollout of payments by state unemployment agencies.
The law funds special unemployment programs and $600 stimulus payments, as well as providing aid to people who need help with rent, struggling transit, schools and businesses.
The initiative only attracted two borrowers, but experts say it helped to stabilize the municipal bond market following Covid-driven turmoil earlier this year.
President Trump on Tuesday disparaged the coronavirus relief package approved by Congress this week. The deal does not appropriate more direct funding for local governments and states, but if it does go forward, it would extend the deadline for them to spend previous funds.
The Senate majority leader recommended passing a package with programs that Democrats and Republicans can agree on, while the Trump administration offered its own proposal.
In the absence of a second federal coronavirus relief package, some state leaders are pushing plans to provide stimulus money to individuals and businesses.
“We continue to see too much politicization of a public health care crisis,” said Mark Poloncarz, the Democrat county executive of Erie County, New York, describing the logjam that has prevented additional funding for state and local governments.
Illinois voters rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed the state to implement a graduated income tax. Campaigns for and against the initiative together raised more than $120 million.
STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | One Republican governor says he voted for Joe Biden … Federal judge strikes down “public charge” rule … Oil clean up on Maryland and Delaware beaches.