WASHINGTON, D.C. – In case you missed it, Senator Rick Scott wrote an op-ed for the National Review on why he will continue to fight any proposal that uses taxpayer dollars, intended for coronavirus relief, to bail out wasteful states, like New York and California, that want to use taxpayer money to backfill their poorly-managed budgets and pension plans. 

In the op-ed, Senator Rick Scott wrote, “What Democrats really want is for Congress to just send money to liberal politicians who have already shown they can’t be trusted with it. If these politicians have budget shortfalls, it’s because they did not prioritize their struggling constituents in the first place, and instead wasted money on other things. New York and California are of course free to burn tax dollars for fun. But they shouldn’t expect Florida and the rest of the country to pay when the bill comes due.

I’ve argued all along that states have the ability to moderate the economic harm caused by the COVID pandemic through reasoned, balanced measures that protect citizens without destroying their economies. States also have taxing authority and the ability to borrow money if their fiscal situations get too dire.

The federal government can play a significant role in boosting the unemployment-insurance program, propping up small businesses to avoid layoffs, and investing in vaccine research, development, and distribution. But it shouldn’t write blank checks to poorly managed states.

All this is to say that states do not need bailouts; they want bailouts so they can use the money — intended to address the fallout from COVID — to plug the long-standing holes in their budgets and pension systems. It’s as simple as that.

Bailing out those who have done so much damage to their states and our country already would be a boondoggle of epic proportions. We must not let it happen.”

Read the full op-ed in the National Review HERE.