Congressman Fulcher Opposes Yesterday’s “Relief” Package

WASHINGTON — Labeled by Senate Democrat Leadership as “one of the most progressive pieces of legislation in decades,” the “COVID-19 relief” legislation passed on a party-line vote through House on February 27th, then through the Senate on March 6th, and again, passed on party lines in the House today-- now going on to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law. Both during the first House vote on February 27th, and today, Congressman Fulcher voted against the legislation.

Congressman Fulcher commented, “These efforts started as a way to provide specific relief to those struggling during the pandemic, but have grown so large that less than a quarter of the funds even pertain to combatting COVID-19, with the vast majority funding a liberal wish list of items including providing stimulus payments to illegal immigrants, bailing out liberal states’ long-term debt (unrelated to COVID-19), and directing taxpayer funds toward abortion.”

The completely-partisan bill is being pushed through by Speaker Pelosi without any negotiation or compromise from republicans, some justifying this by saying it’s ‘emergency’ aid and needed immediately. This doesn’t add up, with substantial portions of this package not going into effect immediately-- and others having no relation to those feeling a direct impact from COVID-19.”

Additional concerns with this bill include:

UNRELATED SPENDING

Currently, in the $1.9 trillion package, only $825 billion is related to COVID relief, while this includes bailouts to blue states and local governments and $86 billion to failing union pension plans.

On top of frivolous bailouts and pension plans, stimulus checks are being signed to prisoners and illegal immigrants will receive healthcare coverage through taxpayer dollars and credits. Congressman Fulcher spoke during an Education and Labor Committee Markup about his amendment that would ensure the only individuals receiving these benefits would be those with lawful immigration status.

Additionally, the bill includes the following unrelated spending:

· $470 million for, as the CBO puts it, "grants to fund activities related to the arts, humanities, libraries, museums, and Native American language preservation.”

· $570 million in additional paid leave for federal workers

· $600 million to Pelosi’s home of San Francisco

· $1.5 billion for Amtrak

· $36 billion in Medicare cuts over 10 years

· $129 billion to elementary and secondary schools & $40 billion to higher education- whether or not they open for classroom learning

· $15 billion to provide healthcare to illegal immigrants

· $30 billion for public transit agencies

· $12 billion for foreign aid

· $111 billion for welfare, without work requirements

· $350 billion bailout for state and local governments - despite all-time-high state revenues

· This is in addition to the $584 billion in state and local funding that has been appropriated in previous COVID-19 relief bills, $138 billion which remains unspent. The new stimulus package also utilizes a novel allocation formula using unemployment numbers, which means that states that locked down in 2020 would be advantaged while states that remained open would be disadvantaged.

NON-EMERGENCY SPENDING

This bill is being passed without bipartisan support and proper negotiation under the guise that it is due to the emergency aspect of the situation. Yet, nearly half of this bill wouldn’t be spent until FY2022 or later.

Non-Emergency Provisions (spent after Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 or later)

Of $130B in the bill for K-12 schools, only 5% ($6 billion) would be spent this FY.

Of the $5B for Emergency Housing Vouchers, only 5% ($250M) spent this FY.

Of the $39 billion for childcare, only 19% ($8 billion) would be spent this FY.

Of the $50 billion for FEMA only 23% ($11 billion) would be spent this FY.

Of the Ed & Labor part of the package, only 12% ($35 billion) spent this FY.

None of the $5 billion for Homeless Assistance would be spent this fiscal year.

IGNORES LEFTOVER FUNDS FROM PREVIOUS RELIEF

Nearly $1 trillion in unspent funds from previous bipartisan packages remains, and yet Democrats have said that the massive spending in this bill aims to fund their pet projects and will lead to tax increases, and serious economic consequences.

$4 Trillion in COVID-19 Relief Funds Already Appropriated Includes:

Direct aid to American households: $1.29 trillion

Unemployment insurance: $586 billion

Stimulus checks: $458 billion

Rental assistance: $25 billion

Testing and hospital visits: $13.6 billion

Small business loans: $1.27 trillion

PPP funds: $828 billion

5.2 million businesses received loans

State and local governments: $578 billion

Law enforcement assistance: $848 million

Firefighters grants: $100 million

Healthcare: $178 billion in grants to health providers

Funding for pharmaceutical companies: $33.3 billion

Vaccine rollout: $8.75 billion

Education: $112.7 billion

K-12: $68 billion

Higher education: $36.6 billion

Unspent of this Money appropriated by Congress: $1 trillion

LACKS HYDE AMENDMENT PROTECTIONS

This bill prioritizes wish list items for Democratic Members such as ignoring Hyde Amendment protections and instead allocating funds to Planned Parenthood while providing

The provisions below increase the amount of funding available in the bill that is not Hyde protected:

Section 9911: Appropriates $8.5 billion for the Provider Relief Fund. This funding lacks Hyde protections, so it could be used to directly pay for abortions. It could also be used to bail out abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.

The House-passed bill would have waived the PPP affiliation rule for non-profit organizations, allowing Planned Parenthood to apply for and receive PPP funding.

NO EFFORTS TO BE BIPARTISAN

Four bipartisan COVID relief bills passed in 2020, however, the $1.9 trillion package passed today on a partisan basis, establishing the Democrat’s rejection of past promises to work in a bipartisan manner.

(Figures above include source references: bill text, Republican Study Committee, Republican Leader’s Office, and Republican Conference.)