Congress approves $600 checks, unemployment. But no aid for Kansas, Missouri budgets
The $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill approved by Congress provides $600 checks to many Americans, enhances unemployment benefits and curbs surprise medical bills.
But the massive package doesn’t include direct financial aid for state and local governments whose budget outlooks are uncertain after the pandemic caused tax revenues to plummet earlier this year.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, had made financial assistance for states a priority and for months called publicly on Congress to act. Revenues in Kansas are expected to fall by $322 million next budget year, causing budgets to tighten.
Kelly on Tuesday praised lawmakers for passing a relief package but said that “without that funding we risk having to make further budget cuts that could threaten our recovery.”
Missouri is expected to have a $419 million drop in revenue next budget year, though Republican Gov. Mike Parson hadn’t publicly pushed for aid in the same way as Kelly.
Lawmakers divided over direct aid, with Republicans casting assistance as boosting states controlled by Democrats. But Democrats warned no aid could lead to dire financial consequences to state and local services.
“As is the case with any compromise, this package did not include every measure I’d hoped for and championed,” said Rep. Sharice Davids, Kansas’s sole Democratic member of Congress. “Most notably it lacked funding for state and local governments to avoid devastating cuts to our public schools, roads, fire and police departments, public health agencies and other services that we depend on.”
Rep. Vicky Hartzler, a Missouri Republican, said the legislation doesn’t provide “bailout funds for poorly managed states like New York and California where elected leaders have shut down their economies while other states like Missouri have kept people working.”
“Missourians should not have to foot the bill for these poor decisions,” Hartzler said.
Still, the COVID-19 relief bill represents a rare bipartisan achievement of sweeping scope, with all of the Kansas City area congressional delegation voting for it. The package is almost certainly one of the last major votes taken by the current Congress before new members take office in January.
The bill now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.
The deal includes $600 payments to Americans earning up to $75,000 a year, with the amount gradually reduced for people earning more than that. It represents the second round of direct payments, after Congress approved $1,200 checks earlier this year.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, had pushed for more aid. Ahead of the Senate vote, Hawley said on Twitter the aid was the only reason he was voting yes.
“That assistance is not nearly enough, fraction of what it should be. But it is something, & for millions of working Americans, it’s help desperately needed,” Hawley said.
The bill offers unemployed individuals $300 a week in benefits through mid-March and extends assistance for self-employed workers until early April. A federal eviction moratorium is also extended until Jan. 31, 2021. And it provides $280 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program to provide financial assistance to businesses.
“This agreement should be interpreted as a down payment on the costs of recovery from the coronavirus-induced recession,” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat, said.
The package also bans surprise medical bills — a prohibition lawmakers and advocacy groups had been seeking for years. The bills happen when patients seek care from facilities in their insurance network, but end up receiving treatment from out-of-network doctors — sometimes shocking patients when bills later arrive.
The ban comes after Davids introduced a ban on surprise medical bills in November 2019.
“Especially in the middle of this devastating pandemic, the last thing Kansas families need is a medical bill they never saw coming,” Davids said.
The Star’s Katie Bernard contributed reporting
This story was originally published December 22, 2020 at 11:39 AM.
