Rick Scott: Democrat Coronavirus Proposal a ‘Bailout’ to Liberal States

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) said in a statement Monday the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion coronavirus proposal amounts to nothing more than payback to liberal states that helped Democrats during the recent elections.

Scott, a former Florida governor, said Republicans want to pass targeted relief to help Americans suffering from the economic effects of the coronavirus; however, he added that they should not bail out liberal states such as New York, Illinois, and California. He also noted that liberal states are starting to see tax revenue growth, which further calls into question the need for state and local government aid in a coronavirus package.

He explained:

Senate Republicans are all in for getting targeted relief to Americans that are still hurting from this pandemic. But President Biden and the Democrats want to spend more than $350 billion to bailout their friends in New York, Illinois, and California. And they are lying about the need for this money. Congress has already given states roughly $400 billion to combat this crisis. States across the country are seeing increases in revenue — in some cases, well above projections. Now, we are learning that 47 states show an average decline of just 0.12 percent compared to 2019, and twenty-one of the 47 states show positive year over year growth of tax receipts. Over half of states reported positive growth, including California, New York, and Illinois.

Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), said Democrats say the state and local aid would serve as a “payback” for their friends who aided their campaigns during the 2020 elections:

This is great news for our states – but Democrats don’t want you to know this. The Democrats have made it blatantly obvious that this isn’t about helping people – it’s a payback to their friends for helping with their campaigns. Less than two weeks into the Biden Administration and Democrats have already completely abandoned their inauthentic calls for ‘unity’ and ‘bipartisanship’ just to push through massive spending and get tax dollars to their buddies. You can’t make this stuff up. These wasteful states just have their hand out to the federal government in hopes that American taxpayers will plug the long-standing holes in their budgets and pension systems created by decades of mismanagement and the poor decisions of failed politicians.

“That’s not fair to Floridians and all the states around the country that have been working hard to protect taxpayer dollars,” he added. “We can’t let it happen.”