WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke with the Civic Federation Trustees, which include business, education, and other civic leaders in Illinois, about the financial strains the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on state and local governments. On the call, Durbin discussed his push to increase funding for state and local governments, to ensure funding is distributed to all localities regardless of size, and to provide increased flexibility for the use of these funds to replace lost revenues. Illinois estimates that it will lose more than $10 billion in state and local revenues by next summer. This is happening in states around the country with the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities estimating that states will lose $765 billion in revenues over the next two years.
“We have seen the dire warnings from experts that many states and local governments will soon struggle to pay teachers, first responders, and health care workers as they face record revenue losses and increased costs of fighting the coronavirus,” Durbin said. “We must prioritize the needs of our state and local governments if we want to ensure that our communities can halt the spread of COVID-19 and recover from the economic hardship brought on by this pandemic,” said Durbin.
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Provisions in the Heroes Act, which Durbin supports, would offer fiscal relief to localities of all sizes to replace the more than $10 billion drop in state and local revenues expected by next July. The bill also proposes changes to the Federal Reserve’s Municipal Liquidity Facility to make it more accessible for a greater number of cities and counties.
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