WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott released the below statement following the announcement that the Department of the Treasury launched the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, established by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, to provide $350 billion in emergency funding for eligible state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments. This news comes as California Governor Gavin Newsom just announced that his state will have a $75.7 billion budget surplus.

Senator Scott opposed President Biden’s wasteful, untargeted $1.9 trillion “COVID” spending bill, which dedicated less than 10% of its overall price tag to fighting COVID-19, and requested the Biden Administration rescind the more than $668 billion of wasteful and misguided funding, including the $350 billion for state and local bailouts that predominantly benefit liberal states. Senator Scott has led the fight against wasteful blue state bailouts and repeatedly voiced his strong opposition to this reckless spending.

Senator Rick Scott said, “The Democrats just can’t stop throwing money at everyone and everything they see. American taxpayer money. They keep mindlessly spending even as it’s evident our states are doing just fine. California’s operating budget surplus has swelled to an unprecedented more than $75 billion – in the midst of a global pandemic. We knew then that state and local governments didn't need more federal money, but Democrats in Washington insisted on moving forward with their radical and wasteful plan to give $350 billion in taxpayer money to these states that have been irresponsibly spending for decades. Now that they are seeing fiscal good fortune on the back of the taxpayers, do you think they are going to be responsible? Do you think they’ll stop raising taxes? Of course not. This bailout was nothing more than a liberal payback to governors who helped elect them.

“We can’t let politicians use American tax dollars to backfill their friends’ mismanaged pensions and state budgets. We’re nearly $30 trillion in debt and inflation is rising from Democrats’ wasteful spending. We need to get serious about how we’re spending taxpayer money. This madness has to stop, and I continue to urge local and state governments to be responsible and reject and return any money in excess of COVID-related expenses.”

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