NE Gov. Ricketts: COVID Relief Proposal Seems Like ‘Political Payback to Big Blue States’; Says Rewarding on Per Capita Basis ‘the Fair Way to Do It’

During Tuesday’s broadcast of “Fox & Friends,” Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) criticized the proposed coronavirus relief bill because it allocates stimulus funds based on unemployment rate rather than per capita.

Ricketts argued the bill “rewards” states with high unemployment rates rather than states that did the “right thing” in reopening amid the ongoing pandemic.

“This formula that rewards people who have high employment is something that’s going to really penalize state to do the right thing, states like Nebraska, but not just Nebraska — Iowa, Kansas, a lot of states through the Midwest that have really tried to strike a balance between slowing the spread of the virus and allowing people to live a more normal life,” Ricketts said on Fox News Channel. “I mean, here in Nebraska, we have had the lowest unemployment rate for five months in a row … by striking that balance, and this is going to reward the states that didn’t do that.”

“This is really unfair, he added. “Again, like I said, it’s not just going to be Nebraska — it’s going to be 33 states, which leads you to ask the question, is this some sort of political payback to big blue states. I mean, it just seems like a patently unfair thing that you’re going to do, and none of the previous five stimulus packages from this pandemic did it this way. They were all done on a per capita basis, which is, frankly, the fair way to do it.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent