Today, April 23, 2020, Representatives Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) and Tom Reed (NY-23) pushed back against Majority Leader McConnell’s comments regarding allowing states and local governments to fall into bankruptcy amidst this unprecedented crisis.

“We strongly disagree with the idea that the federal government can sit by and let our local governments, and the thousands of essential front-line workers, including law enforcement, firefighters, and health care workers, go bankrupt. New York and New Jersey are the states with the two largest COVID-19 caseloads in the country. Through daily communication and coordination with our own state, municipal, and local governments, we know firsthand the immense impact that local governments and their officials are having in keeping Americans safe. We will continue to speak out against Senator McConnell or any other colleague of ours who fails to see the vital role local governments are playing in communities across our country. If state and local economies fail then our national economy will fail, as well.”

Earlier this week, the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, Co-Chaired by Reed and Gottheimer, unveiled its Reopening and Recovery “Back to Work” Checklist, a multi-prong, data-driven proposal focused on reopening America safely and reigniting the economy. This Checklist included direct investments into states, counties, cities, towns, and tribal governments, citing that additional resources should go to states and directly to all counties, municipalities, and tribal governments that were excluded in previous coronavirus relief packages because of pre-existing funding formulas and qualifying population counts. 

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