Photo: Congressman Dan Kildee
Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05), Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus, issued the following statement in response to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) comment suggesting that states hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, like Michigan, should file for bankruptcy rather than be given support they need to overcome this pandemic:
“If Mitch McConnell had his way, he’d let Michigan go bankrupt. The Senate majority leader’s comments are irresponsible, insulting and show just how out of touch Republicans are with reality. State and local governments across Michigan support essential services like police and fire, 911 dispatch, school, hospitals and roads. The last thing we need in an economic crisis is Michigan filing for bankruptcy, which would hurt Michigan families by laying off police officers, firefighters, teachers, hospital workers and construction crews. Instead of letting states fail, Republicans should work with Democrats to provide emergency relief to state and local governments during this extraordinary time of need.”
Senator Mitch McConnell took a firm stance on April 22 against giving cash-short states more federal aid in future emergency pandemic relief legislation when he said they should consider filing for bankruptcy, saying those funds could be used to bail out pensions. He said there wasn’t going to be any desire by Republicans bail out state pensions by “borrowing money from future generations.”
Congress allocated $150 billion in last month’s $2.2 trillion relief package for state and local governments. Another $484 billion package that passed through the Senate on April 21 did not include any new funding for state and local governments.
The Michigan Unemployment Agency (UIA) has already provided an estimated 820,000 unemployed Michigan workers $1.37 billion in benefits. On April 23, the U.S. Dept. of Labor released numbers showing that 1,178,021 Michiganders have filed for unemployment since March 15, with 134,119 workers filing claims just in the previous week.
The vast majority of workers who have yet to receive benefits will receive payments shortly after they complete the federal requirement to certify their claims two weeks after filing.
Although the additional $600 payments being given to those receiving unemployment through July is coming from the federal government, another portion of unemployment payments are still coming from the state.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer said that her state was looking at a $3 billion hit to Michigan’s budget due to the state government’s efforts to combat the coronavirus. She also criticized McConnell for saying he supports letting states declare bankruptcy during the coronavirus pandemic, calling the remarks “incredibly irresponsible.”
