[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E686-E687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

CRITICAL NEED FOR DIRECT, FLEXIBLE, LOCALITY ASSISTANCE

______

HON. MARCY KAPTUR

of ohio

in the house of representatives

Monday, July 27, 2020

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise to shine a light on the critical
need for equitable, direct, and flexible locality assistance in
upcoming COVID relief legislation in the face of the dire COVID-19
economic and public health crisis. Locality revenues have fallen
precipitously, forcing communities to make overwhelmingly difficult
decisions, including to furlough emergency first responders who are
needed now more than ever.
Due to Republican provisions that diverted CARES Act locality
assistance largely to state capitals, hardworking communities under
500,000 across the nation and Northern Ohio were severely shortchanged.
These provisions largely favored financial power and capital centers
leaving Main Street communities behind. The rich get richer and the
poor get poorer. Welcome to the Trump Swamp.
I include in the Record an OPED I wrote to shine a light on these
concerning provisions.
In response, the Democratic House took action and passed the HEROES
Act to provide direct assistance to every locality. Every municipality
would receive assistance for two fiscal years based on a modified CDBG
formula, and all counties would receive a population-based allocation.
While this critical legislation passed the House of Representatives
in May, it continues to languish in the Senate still awaiting action. I
call on our Republican colleagues in the Senate and the Trump
Administration to take action now. Too much is at stake for more
handwringing.

The CARES Coronavirus Relief Fund--A Robin Hood Plan for the Rich

(By Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur)

In this important Presidential election year, let me define
a key difference between Republicans and Democrats. Democrats
fight for all people. Republicans don't. That is why
Democrats created Social Security and Medicare for every
American. That is why Democrats are fighting to pass the
HEROES Act (H.R. 6800) to help all people in communities
impacted by the COVID-19 recession. Republicans are not.
Every American can gauge the fairness or unfairness of the
Republican-drafted CARES Act (H.R. 748) vs. the Democratic-
drafted HEROES bill by their return of your tax dollars to
help your community.
Despite the proportionally higher COVID-19 infection rates
in the time of greatest human need, the majority of northern
Ohio communities I represent like Cleveland, Lorain,
Sandusky, and Toledo got nothing that can be described as
fair or proportionate from the CARES Act. How can this be as
Donald Trump kicked off his 2020 campaign in northern Ohio in
Toledo on January 9, 2020? He made countless promises to help
the City and its people. He promised his audience steel jobs
were back at nearby Lorain mills, which was an outright
falsehood.
Let's do a bit of simple math. If $150 billion of the CARES
State/Local Coronavirus Relief Fund were divided equally per
capita based on U.S. population in each jurisdiction, every
community in our nation would be receiving close to $454.50
per person times the population of that community. In a fair
allocation formula, that amount of funding would be
multiplied by the population of the jurisdiction (based on
the most recent Census data) to obtain a fair share of
federal CARES support to your community. If your community,
for example, has a population of 100 people, your community
would get back $45,450 to help preserve your emergency
coverage or pay your community's part time doctor.
In Lorain, with a population of 64,000, this would equal
$29 million. Instead, Lorain gets $0. In Cleveland, with a
population of 384,000, this would equal $174 million. Instead
Cleveland gets $0.
Mind you, our communities were not the only ones completely
shortchanged. In Flint, Michigan with a population of 96,000,
a fair allocation would return $44 million. Instead, Flint
gets $0. In Pittsburgh, PA with a population of 301,048, a
fair return would be $137 million. Instead, Pittsburgh gets
$0. Gary, IN with a population of 75,000, should have
received $34 million. Instead, Gary gets $0. Duluth, MN has a
population of 86,000, and should have received $39 million.
Instead, Duluth gets $0. Des Moines, IA has a population of
217,000, and should have received $99 million. Instead, it
gets $0. Little Rock, AR, with a population of 198,000,
should have received $90 million. Instead, it gets $0.
Jackson, MS has a population of 164,422. Its fair share would
have been $75 million, yet it got $0. The list of losers
across the Heartland and South is long: Peoria, St. Louis,
Kenosha, Charleston, Des Moines, New Orleans, Selma,
Birmingham, St. Paul, Grand Rapids, Nashville, and many
others.
Senate Republicans drafted a Robin Hood bill for the rich.
Their numbers-juggling took from struggling communities and
transferred funds to the richest. The Trump formula tilts
heavily against Main Street America. It diverts critical
funds to financial power and capital city centers, and
essentially metropolises with over 500,000 persons. For
example, New York City received $1.45 billion, San Francisco
$154 million, and Chicago $469 million. Based on an
equitable, per capita distribution of CARES Coronavirus
Relief Funds, each Congressional District should have
received close to $345 million. Instead, while districts with
the highest median income were taken care of, those with the
lowest median incomes clearly lost out. In fact, the urban
district I represent ranks 403 out of 435 congressional
districts in median income per household, and received
nothing that could be considered fair. Of the top 30
wealthiest Congressional Districts, all but two received a
handsome allocation. Yet, for the bottom 86 Districts, only
20 received something close to equitable. The rich get richer
and the poor get poorer. Welcome to the Trump swamp.
Further, due to provisions included in the CARES Act by
Republican Senators and the White House, over $87.5 billion
in CARES funding is slated directly to a majority of

[[Page E687]]

Republican controlled State capitals to distribute. To be
exact, 59% of all State legislatures controlled by
Republicans will redistribute your tax dollars. As a result,
state governments will determine through a lopsided political
process, which communities do and don't receive federal
relief dollars. For example, a recent Ohio Senate Bill
(S.B. 310) proposes to distribute only 7.7% of its $4.533
billion federal allocation to localities, which translates
to $29.90 per capita vs. a fair allocation of $454.50 per
capita from the CARES Act. At a time of such national
stress, how repugnant is this Republican unequal
distribution. In effect, communities across Northern Ohio
are being shortchanged and losing millions of dollars:
Cleveland (-$163 million), Toledo (-$117 million), Lorain
(-$27 million), Lakewood (-$22 million), and Parma (-$33.4
million).

COMPARATIVE RETURN OF FEDERAL FUNDS TO COMMUNITIES, CARES VS. HEROES ACT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CARES Equal Per
CARES Capita Estimated Ohio FY20 Estimated FY21 Estimated
Locality Locality Allocations Allocations (S.B. HEROES HEROES
Allocations (Theoretical) 310 Pending) Allocations Allocations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Toledo......................................................... $0 $124,976,138 $10,078,625 $362,033,245 $181,016,622
Sandusky....................................................... $0 $11,232,513 $509,672 $35,551,881 $17,775,940
Lorain......................................................... $0 $29,100,726 $3,305,501 $58,997,836 $29,498,918
Parma.......................................................... $0 $35,792,330 $2,388,115 $46,518,935 $23,259,467
Lakewood....................................................... $0 $23,508,558 $2,352,577 $96,486,908 $48,243,454
Cleveland...................................................... $0 $174,433,919 $31,665,995 $1,038,682,671 $519,341,336
Cincinnati..................................................... $0 $137,533,974 $15,659,518 $559,404,059 $279,702,030
Dayton......................................................... $0 $63,920,880 $8,095,038 $282,218,173 $141,109,087
Youngstown..................................................... $0 $29,523,411 $1,967,717 $170,034,169 $85,017,085
Akron.......................................................... $0 $89,993,727 $8,012,136 $294,247,102 $147,123,551
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the CARES Act, Republican rural, and small states were
also guaranteed $1.5 billion regardless of their population,
or COVID infection rates. When topline CARES states/locality
funding is analyzed and the allocation divided evenly by
population, Ohio received an average $388 per capita. Yet,
Republican states like South Dakota received $1,413 per
capita, Alaska received $1,709, Wyoming $2,160, and North
Dakota $1,640. How is a hard-working Ohioan from a community
that has already suffered deindustrialization and outsourcing
worth less than other Americans?

CARES ACT STATE PER CAPITA ALLOCATIONS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Per Capita CARES
State Act Funding
Allocation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ohio................................................. $388
Alaska............................................... $1,709
North Dakota......................................... $1,640
South Dakota......................................... $1,413
Idaho................................................ $699
Nebraska............................................. $646
Wyoming.............................................. $2,160
Delaware............................................. $1,284
Montana.............................................. $1,170
Kansas............................................... $429
Maine................................................ $930
West Virginia........................................ $697
Mississippi.......................................... $420
------------------------------------------------------------------------

To address these grievous injustices, I led an effort to
request Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to certify
``Locality'' assistance of northern Ohio's two economic
regions whose population does exceed 500,000 persons--the
Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency's (NOACA) and
Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments' (TMACOG).
Secretary Mnuchin dismissed the requests out of hand stating,
``Treasury relied on data from the U.S. Census Bureau.'' Our
regions should qualify by any reasonable measure of economic
performance, COVID-19, and population distribution.
In effect, the CARES Act authorizes the disbursement of an
enormous sum of money back to only some communities, but not
all. The bill picks winners and losers. It does not give
equal amounts based on population and certainly not need. It
is very lopsided. By contrast, the HEROES Act leaves no
community out. This bill would provide a fairer allocation to
municipalities for two fiscal years based on a modified
Community Development Block Grant formula. All counties would
receive direct funding based on population. While this
legislation has passed the House of Representatives, it is
sitting in the Senate and awaiting action.
Democratic Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal best summed
up Democratic dismay: ``Remember, Democrats control only one
half of one third of the government of the United States.''
The American people now must keep their eyes peeled on the
Republican Senate and their state legislatures. Otherwise,
millions of Americans are going to face their municipalities
declaring bankruptcy with the massive furloughing of police
officers, firefighters, emergency service personnel, and
other first responders. Bankruptcy of America's communities
may be Senator Mitch McConnell's solution. That is barbarian.
We owe a fair shake to the American people in all our
communities. Let's fix the skewed formula in the CARES Act.
Ensure population-based, fair allocations of federal
coronavirus relief funding in future legislation. Democrats
must lead with equity. Shortchange no region. Restore
fairness to the American people.

____________________