WASHINGTON
Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has been pleading for federal aid since last year. But now that the legislation is halfway to President Joe Biden’s desk, she says she’s unhappy with the funding formula.
Missouri Republican Gov. Mike Parson’s office said last month that the state didn’t need help from Washington. Now, with the money likely on its way, Parson wants Missouri to get a bigger cut.
Both governors signed onto a Saturday letter criticizing the way Biden’s COVID-19 stimulus plan will distribute aid to the states.
Kelly was the only Democrat to sign the letter, organized by South Carolina GOP Gov. Henry McMaster and signed by 21 Republicans. It was released just hours after the U.S. House passed the $1.9 trillion bill.
It includes $350 billion in aid to state and local governments. Every state receives at least $500 million, but additional support is based on the state’s share of unemployed workers nationally.
The 22 governors who signed contend that the formula “punishes states that took a measured approach to the pandemic and entered the crisis with healthy state budgets and strong economies.”
Kansas had a 3.8 % unemployment rate in December, sixth lowest in the nation. Missouri had 5.8 % jobless in December, ranked 24th among all states. California, Nevada and Hawaii had unemployment rates of 9 % or more.
Kansas is set to receive $1.6 billion, while Missouri is set to receive $2.8 billion.
But Nevada, with half the population of Missouri and only slightly more than Kansas, is set to receive $3 billion because of its higher unemployment rate.
“A state’s ability to keep businesses open and people employed should not be a penalizing factor when distributing funds. If Congress is going to provide aid to states, it should be on an equitable population basis,” the letter said.
Parson’s spokeswoman said last month that federal aid was unnecessary.
“As a result of conservative fiscal management of the state’s budget and being able to maintain the state’s AAA rating, we do not have the same need for increased federal aid as other states,” Kelli Jones told The Star in February. “We’ve made hard decisions in order to ensure the viability of the state’s budget going forward and will be able to balance our budget without any enhanced funding.”
Asked to square those comments with the governor’s decision to sign a letter demanding a greater share of federal aid, Jones said in an email Monday that Parson was trying to ensure a fair distribution. The aid distributed to states last year under former President Donald Trump was based solely on population.
“To be clear, the Governor is requesting an equitable share of any federal funding that is allocated. Governor Parson has taken a balanced approach to managing COVID-19, and changing the allocation model of federal funding (from the model used in the previous federal bills) would penalize our hard-working, taxpaying citizens,” she said.
“We are not requesting any additional federal funding than any other state. We are simply agreeing that funding should be allocated in a way that does not penalize states for having lower unemployment rates.”
The bill passed the U.S. House by a vote of 219 to 212 early Saturday. The region’s Democrats— Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids and Missouri Reps. Emanuel Cleaver and Cori Bush— voted in favor of the bill, while Republicans uniformly opposed it.
It is now before the Senate, which could change the formula before it gets to Biden’s desk. Complaints from Republican governors—and Kelly— are likely to be a point of contention in the 50-50 Senate.
“Kansas should not be punished for having taken a measured approach to COVID - that’s why I joined @henrymcmaster and 20 other Governors to urge the federal government to allocate aid based on population, not unemployment rate,” Kelly said on Twitter Saturday.
Kelly’s office declined to comment on the governor’s outreach to the congressional delegation on the issue in the lead-up to the House vote, which took place early Saturday after a Friday night debate.
Davids’ office said the governor’s team made the office aware of her concerns about the formula on Friday, just hours before the vote. Davids would support changing the language in the Senate, the congresswoman’s spokeswoman confirmed.
“While this is not the funding formula that Rep. Davids thinks is best, it would still bring nearly $1.6 billion to Kansas – and millions more to our cities – to protect the jobs of our teachers, first responders, and other essential workers, as well as to address issues at the Kansas Department of Labor so folks can get their unemployment relief. She hopes the formula will be fixed in the Senate,” said Johanna Warshaw, Davids’ spokeswoman.
“Davids remains the only member of the Kansas delegation fighting to actually get state and local aid to Kansas – something that is desperately needed to keep our frontline workers and communities afloat,” Warshaw added, noting the opposition to state and local aid from the Republicans in the delegation.
Aid for cities and counties in the bill is based on the same formula used by the Community Development Block Grant program, which factors in population and poverty rates.
This story was originally published March 01, 2021 1:03 PM.
