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Top members on the conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) say future spending measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic should be offset with spending cuts to control the deficit.

In a letter sent to the top four leaders in both chambers,Rep. Mike JohnsonJames (Mike) Michael JohnsonConservative Republicans say COVID spending must consider growing debt House GOP lawmakers urge Senate to confirm Vought Top conservatives pen letter to Trump with concerns on fourth coronavirus relief bill MORE (R-La.), who chairs the RSC, and Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) argued there is an urgent need" to address the debt.

The lawmakers said that while they understand the need to help Americans weather the financial hit caused by the pandemic, they feel the fiscal health of our nation cant be ignored.

Annual deficits were already expected to surpass $1 trillion for FY 2020 and only grow in perpetuity," they wrote, referring to the current fiscal year. "Recent COVID-19 legislation will now add trillions more debt in the next several years while federal revenues will nosedive in the midst of an economic downturn.

Congress should offset future COVID-19-related deficits. Given the present fiscal crisis, the thought of any more debt-financed spending seems unimaginable," they wrote.

The group is proposing that the growth of future spending be limited to 60 percent of the growth in federal revenue, which itself would be capped as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).

It also suggested a "debt brake" that ties spending to potential GDP.

Other proposals the group supports include automatic votes to consider the deficit reductions in budget resolutions, expanding the reconciliation process to include on and off-budget items and discretionary spending and requiring a super-majority to pass emergency spending.

It also said mandatory budget cuts through sequestration could be considered.

To rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, it will take the collective strength and effort of our entire nation, the letter reads.That same resolve will be needed to overcome the threat posed by our seemingly insurmountable debt. It is not too late for us to take the actions necessary to secure the future of America and our posterity but that work must begin now.

Banks said hes spoken with a number of his Republican colleagues in the House who have also expressed a sense of unease over the spending levels in recent bills, adding he believes there will be a stronger pushback on future coronavirus stimulus measures that dont include provisions to limit its impact on the debt.

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Conservative Republicans say COVID spending must consider growing debt | TheHill - The Hill

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HARRISBURG Republicans in the state legislature have subpoenaed the Wolf administration for documents related to its controversial coronavirus waiver process for businesses, a rarely used maneuver that could spark a legal battle with the Democratic governor.

The subpoena authorized Thursday by a Senate committee and signed by Sen. Mike Regan (R., York) directs Gov. Tom Wolf and Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Davin to produce the documents by May 8.

The Wolf administration has said it will release information on the process, but Davin last week declined to provide a timeframe.

This allowed the public perception to conclude that decisions made as part of the waiver review process were inconsistent, with competing businesses receiving differing waiver decisions, creating inequities within a single industry, Regan said during a hearing Thursday.

The waivers, which allowed select businesses to reopen despite the statewide shutdown, have been one of the most contentious aspects of Wolfs response to the pandemic because of perceived inconsistencies and a lack of transparency about how and why they were issued.

Democrats on the committee opposed the subpoena, pointing to an announcement earlier in the day by state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale that he would audit the waiver process without releasing any records. The Democrats argued that investigation would be sufficient.

This audit is warranted, said Sen. Pam Iovino (D., Allegheny), minority chair of the Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee, which voted 7-4 to approve the subpoena.

Finding deficiencies merely to find fault does not serve the people of Pennsylvania, she said during the hearing. Having the auditor general do his job and find deficiencies in the waiver program to improve it must be the goal here.

But Republicans in the General Assembly have grown increasingly frustrated by the Wolf administrations refusal to make public the waiver applications as well as a list of which were approved, which were denied, and which were approved and then revoked.

The administration has also ignored a slew of formal requests for the documents from media organizations across the state, including Spotlight PA and The Philadelphia Inquirer, saying it is too busy addressing the pandemic.

Regan and Sen. Tom Killion (R., Delaware) sent a letter to Wolf last weekrequesting a trove of recordsrelated to the waivers, which were administered in secret by the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

Sen. Lisa Baker (R., Luzerne), a member of the committee, said Wolfs administration cannot reasonably expect to set the rules for shutting down the state and for secretly handing out exceptions to those rules, and then dictating the rules for reopening, without a serious level of consultation and accountability.

DePasquale said he had intended to review the waiver process, but sped up his timing in response to a letter last week from the Senates 28 Republican and independent members requesting an investigation.

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The audit began Thursday morning, DePasquale said. His office will request documents from the Department of Community and Economic Development and look at how employers reached out to the agency, who responded to the request, and if the decisions were consistent. DePasquale also said his office will determine if the waiver process needs to reopen out of fairness

This is a bipartisan effort, he said, noting the audit would not be complicated and he expected it to conclude quickly. The administration pledged their cooperation. I think everyone can tone down the rhetoric.

Wolf on Thursday told reporters he thinks the audit is a great thing.

I think the auditor generals office is in a great position to look at this and make sure that the process is fair and open, as it should be, he said.

But according to Wolf spokesperson Lyndsay Kensinger, the administration does not support a subpoena.

Its unfortunate this Senate committee took the counterproductive step of voting to issue a subpoena. The Wolf administration will review it and determine next steps, she said. The administration has committed to disclosing information about the business closure and exemption process, and recently provided testimony to the Senate regarding that forthcoming disclosure.

Wolf told reporters last week that his administration was working to wrap up the waiver process, which closed to new applications on April 3.

I think before its finished anything that brings that out into the open would give a distorted view of what actually happened in the waiver process, he said.

As of April 29, the Department of Community and Economic Development had approved 6,171 exemptions and denied 13,197, according to a spokesperson. Another 11,624 were submitted for activities as to which no exemption was required, the spokesperson said.

Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, of Allegheny County, in a statement called the subpoena a waste of taxpayer resources that takes our administrations officials away from fighting COVID-19.

Sen. Lindsey Williams (D., Allegheny) painted Thursdays hearing as grandstanding for clips that will be used in future campaign advertisements and an opportunity to score political points during the pandemic.

And I want absolutely nothing to do with it, she said. Im a no vote.

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Republicans subpoena Wolf administration for documents related to controversial business waiver process - LancasterOnline

Hes got nothing.

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With the coronavirus crisis threatening to choke state budgets and force massive, economically damaging spending cuts, Republicans have responded in their time-honored fashion, by telling New York and the rest of blue America to politely drop dead.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell set the tone last week when he said that any aid to state governments would amount to a blue state bailout. He suggested that instead of handing governors money, which would supposedly allow them to paper over years of financial mismanagement, Congress should just let states declare bankruptcy. On Tuesday, meanwhile, Donald Trump signaled that he might be willing to discuss aid with Democrats in Congress, but only if states bend the knee on immigration policy.

The problem with the states is that were not looking to recover 25 years of bad management, and to give them the money that they lost. Thats unfair to other states, Trump said. Now if its COVID-related, I guess we can talk about it. But wed want certain things also, including sanctuary city adjustments, because we have so many people in sanctuary cities.

Whats a bit odd about all of this is that GOP leaders are acting as if they have an upper hand on this issue, because only Democratic strongholds like New York and Illinois are in trouble. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Red states are also fiscally screwed thanks to the coronavirus, and in many cases may be in worse shape than supposedly irresponsible blue states.

Its unclear why, exactly, some Republicans appear convinced that only political entities that happen to be run by Democrats are about to experience a financial rout. Perhaps its because the biggest coronavirus hot spots have tended to be in places like New York, New Jersey, and Michigan. But economic activity has frozen all over the country as governors try to slow the pandemic, and even if Georgia or Texas attempt to reopen a bit early, that wont save them from the shockwaves of a deep national recession. Some Republicans, like McConnell, have seemingly suggested that states like Illinois are in financial trouble now because of their long-standing public pension problems. Insofar as that makes any sense, its because some states with pension issues (Illinois, Pennsylvania) havent been able to build large rainy day funds or other reserves that would help tide them through this crisis. But that list of offenders also includes McConnells own home state of Kentucky, which has one of the worst-managed pensions in the country.

And heres the thing: States that have put money in reserve are going to get bowled over, too. Even well-prepared states are going to be totally outmatched by the size of the downturns were about to see, Dan White, director of government consulting and fiscal policy research at Moodys Analytics, told me.

Earlier this month, White and his colleagues published a forecast showing that, due to the coronavirus crisis, the vast majority of states are likely to face serious budget shortfalls over the next year that will more than devour their entire rainy day fundsand that some of the worst emergencies are likely to be in swing states and in deep Trump country. Sure, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois are in trouble. But so are Florida, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Missouri, Indiana, Arizona, Mississippi, West Virginia, and plenty of others, including, yes, Kentucky.

Moodys

And worst off of all? That would be Louisiana, which as far as I can glean basically doesnt have an economy anymore. (Take away oil, restaurants, and tourism, and the Big Easy is in big trouble.) It could be facing a budget hole equal to 34 percent of its 2019 revenues. Without aid from the federal government, they could have to cut 30 or 40 percent of their budget, White said. Thats not just furloughing some people or laying people off. Thats changing the way you deliver basic services.

Moodys Analytics estimates budget shortfalls by estimates declines in tax revenues and increases in Medicaid spending, and subtracting them from state rainy day funds.

Adapted by Jordan Weissmann from Moodys Analytics data

The fact that Louisiana is currently facing a dark pit of fiscal despair (presumably one filled with oil that nobody wants to buy) might have something to do with why one of its Republican senators, Bill Cassidy, has bucked his party and endorsed a bipartisan proposal to provide $500 billion in aid to states. But other Republicans sincerely seem to have no idea whats in store for their constituents back home. Take Floridas Rick Scott. Its not fair to the taxpayers of Florida, he complained to reporters the other day. We sit here, we live within our means, and then New York, Illinois, California, and other states dont. And were supposed to go bail them out? Thats not right. Back in reality, his state is facing an almost 20 percent budget shortfall, the fifth worst in the country. California, on the other hand, is among the best prepared, becausecontra its reputation as a fiscal basket casethe state spent years fixing its budget and building up a rainy day fund. Its looking at a 3.4 percent shortfall.1

These projections could also be understating the severity of what states are now facing. Many arent actually allowed to draw down their entire rainy day funds in one year, and the recession could also be longer and more severe than the baseline scenario Moodys estimates. If joblessness peaks at 17 percent and lockdowns last past the second quarter, even states like Texas could start to run through their reserves and face shortfalls.

But dont let those details obscure the simple bottom line: Few if any states are going to be spared in this economic crisis. Everybody is going to need some aid. Its possible that Republicans like McConnell do actually understand this, and that theyve just been posturing for the past week to set themselves up for negotiations, as my colleague Jim Newell wrote last week. But if so, everyone should realize that, for all the bluster, the GOP is in a very weak bargaining position here. Unless Republicans are willing to leave their own states gasping for help, they cant credibly threaten to withhold it from Illinois or New York.

Would they do that? I doubt it. This isnt 2011, when Republicans used austerity to undercut a sitting Democratic president. Trump is fighting to keep the White House. McConnell wants to keep the Senate. If the country enters a depression, and states and cities have to lay off thousands of teachers and firefighters, voters are going to blame the party in power.

All of which means that if McConnell and Trump keep yammering about bankruptcy and sanctuary cities, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer should offer their own simple response: Drop dead.

1 White told me that some states, like Florida, could be in somewhat better shape than these figures let on, if they have some extra reserves left over outside their rainy day funds, but it wouldnt fundamentally change much.

Read more:
Republicans Are Absolutely Deluded if They Think Only Blue States Need a Bailout - Slate

Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today, Report For America

Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour attends Gov. Tate Reeves inauguration ceremony inside the House chamber at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. Jackson, Miss., Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020.

In 2006, the story goes then-Republican Gov. Haley Barbour was meeting with legislative staff about the extra federal funds the state received to respond to Hurricane Katrina that ravaged the Mississippi Gulf Coast when someone innocently proclaimed the Legislature will need to appropriate the funds.

Barbour, according to reports, said calmly in his deep, slow Southern drawl, that was not going to happen.

It did not. Such is the legend of Haley Barbour in the annals of the Mississippi Legislature.

Bobby Harrison

There were legislators, especially in the then Democratic-controlled House, who wanted the Legislature to have more oversight and more authority over the funds the state received in the aftermath of Katrina. They also wanted more control of the more than $1 billion in federal stimulus funds the state received to help plug budget holes caused by a dramatic drop in revenue after the Great Recession in 2008-09.

In each instance Barbour remained in firm control. And Phil Bryant, who followed Barbour, controlled most of the money the state received as a result of the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

But now Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and House Speaker Philip Gunn are trying to take away the authority of fellow Republican Gov. Tate Reeves to have the authority over $1.25 billion in federal funds the state is receiving to deal with costs and other issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This episode is the most significant split of Republican leaders since the party garnered control of nearly every aspect of state government in 2012.

Why are legislative Republicans not willing to grant Reeves the same spending authority over federal funds that Barbour, and to a lesser extent, Bryant had before him?

The answers are varied. One is that Barbour exerted an influence, especially over the Senate where first Amy Tuck presided and then Bryant presided, that was in many ways greater than the influence of those presiding officers.

During the budget negotiations it was not unusual for an agreement to be reached between House and Senate leaders only for the Senate to renege after discovering Barbour did not like the deal.

It was unthinkable before Barbour to think legislative leaders would alter their decisions based on the wishes of the governor.

For decades, legislators routinely overrode the vetoes of governors and essentially ignored their wishes. There were noticeable exceptions, but Barbour took the governors authority to a new level.

Part of that was the force of his personality and his communication skills. In addition, Republicans were finally gaining a foothold in the state and they were in unison. Legislative Republican were reluctant to fight with their fellow Republican governor.

Reeves has the misfortune of serving as governor at a time that the party has matured and it could be argued that the Legislature is more interested in reclaiming its traditional power than protecting the governor.

And the fact cannot be lost that Reeves served two terms as lieutenant governor where he presided over the Senate as a vocal and aggressive advocate. He clashed routinely with key members of the House such as Ways and Means Chair Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, and Pro Tem Jason White, R-West, over how to deal with infrastructure woes and what bonds to pass to finance long-term construction projects

It also is rumored that he and Hosemann do not have the best relationship. Recently Reeves argued that he is working with the Legislature in the disbursement of the funds, saying he has talked with the speaker, Black Caucus members and others. He did not mention specifically talking with the lieutenant governor.

Perhaps that was an innocent oversight. When asked later he said he had talked with Hosemann multiple times. But the oversight if it was fits the narrative that two of the three most powerful politicians in the state do not have the best relationship.

In short, Reeves has made enemies. Both Hosemann and Gunn say the issue is not personal, but about upholding the constitutional mandate that the Legislature controls the purse strings and is in a better position to appropriate the money in a more transparent manner.

Both praised Reeves work in dealing with the pandemic and multiple other crises that have developed since he took office in January.

Reeves concedes that the Legislature has the prerogative to force the funds to go through its appropriations process.

I dont really give a damn who is in charge of this money, Reeves said recently. What I care about is the people who need it and they need it now.We cant allow politics, bureaucracy to cost them the money they so badly need.

Legislative leaders say they have the same goals as Reeves, but that they have the constitutional mandate.

Read more from the original source:
Why Republican legislators might be tougher on Reeves than on recent past governors - Mississippi Today

On election night in Wisconsin last week, I spoke to a mother of two undergoing chemotherapy treatment. She prides herself on being an active participant in our democracy, and she made a timely request for an absentee ballot. But it didnt arrive until after Election Day. And with the COVID-19 pandemic, going to a polling location could have been extremely hazardous to her health. One would think the elected officials who represent her would fight to make sure she could make her voice heard without risking her safety. Instead, Wisconsin Republicans fought to suppress her constitutional right to vote.

She is not alone. Thousands of voters across Wisconsin were disenfranchised for no other reason than craven Republican self-interest. They wanted to win the election for a seat on the states Supreme Court. They knew they couldnt win it by letting people vote, so what did they do? They exploited a public health emergency in an attempt to steal the election. One Wisconsin voter brought a sign to the polls that said it best: This is ridiculous.

But guess what? It didnt work. Against all odds, Wisconsin voters fought back and elected Judge Karofsky to the states Supreme Court. I know Judge Karofsky will be fair and make decisions based on the rule of law, not a hyper-partisan agenda. And Wisconsinites will be well-served by her sound judgement.

This remarkable result speaks to the grassroots enthusiasm for Democrats in Wisconsin and across the country. And it should terrify Donald Trump and every other Wisconsin Republican.

But even though Republicans failed this time, you can bet theyre going to keep trying to suppress peoples votes all the way through November. Theyre going to keep forcing millions of Americans to choose between their safety and their vote. And to add insult to injury, theyre going to keep defending their actions by pushing the widely debunked myth of widespread voter fraud.

Time and again, the GOP has resorted to this lie to deny voters their constitutional rights. Now theyve stepped up the mythmaking, claiming without any evidence that vote-by-mail ballots would result in increased fraud. Theres just one problem with that theory: Its patently false, and Republicans know it.

Several states, including Oregon, Colorado and Utah, have already employed expanded vote-by-mail successfully in their elections. Not only that, but President TrumpDonald John TrumpMichael Cohen to be released early from prison amid coronavirus pandemic: report Biden assembling White House transition team Top Republicans call on Trump to fund WHO pending director-general's resignation MORE, first lady Melania TrumpMelania TrumpMelania Trump discusses coronavirus response with wife of German president Melania Trump tweets photo of herself in a mask, encourages Americans to wear them in public 'The Art of Her Deal': Unauthorized Melania Trump biography due out in June MORE, Vice President Pence and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDanielRonna Romney McDanielRNC brings in more than million in February GOP chairwoman negative for COVID RNC chairwoman recommended COVID-19 test after experiencing symptoms MORE have all voted by mail. They just dont want to afford you that right.

This is not a war on voter fraud; its a war on voters.

Even some Republican governors and secretaries of state arent willing to go along with their partys lies. Ohio, for example, is using vote-by-mail for upcoming elections. In fact, just last week, the spokesperson for the Republican Ohio secretary of State said, Ohioans can be confident that their vote-by-mail ballots are as safe and secure as the votes cast on Election Day.

As a career civil right rights lawyer, Ive seen and fought against a lot of voter suppression in my day. I thought I was old enough that nothing could surprise anymore. But this is a whole new level of corruption. This is voter suppression on steroids, and its the foundation of the Republican Partys strategy.

Republicans know they cant win on their ideas, so they have to suppress the vote to have any chance of victory. This is the oldest trick in the GOP playbook. In fact, in 1980, prominent conservative Paul Weyrich admitted as much, saying, I dont want everybody to vote. [Republican] leverage in the elections, quite candidly, goes up as the voting populace goes down. Now, theyre exploiting a public health crisis to gain that leverage, and endangering millions of lives in the process.

But the American people know a con job when they see it, and they wont be fooled.

Wisconsin should teach us two things. First, the GOP will stop at nothing, including putting peoples lives at risk, to win an election. And second, the American people have the power to stop them, just like they did in Wisconsin.

The right to vote is the right that protects all others. It is the foundation of our democracy. And Democrats are showing true leadership during this crisis by advocating for the health and safety of the American people and the integrity of our elections. Thats why weve called on all states to employ vote-by-mail, expand early voting, and implement a variety of other reforms to make it easier and safer for Americans to make their voices heard during this pandemic. Because you shouldnt have to win the geographic lottery to exercise your right to the ballot.

We believe elections should be about which party has the best ideas, not which party can silence the most voters. We believe government has a fundamental role in keeping people safe and allowing them to exercise their fundamental freedoms.

We cannot let this pandemic bring our democracy to a halt or silence the voices of people across the country, especially in communities of color, which have been among the hardest hit by the coronavirus and historically targeted by Republican voter suppression efforts. Trump and Republican leaders are playing games with peoples lives and constitutional rights. And American voters will make them pay the price on Election Day when they elect Joe BidenJoe BidenBiden assembling White House transition team Manchin to back Biden for president Joe Biden must pick a progressive black woman as VP if he wants to win MORE as the next president of the United States.

Tom PerezThomas Edward PerezClintons top five vice presidential picks Government social programs: Triumph of hope over evidence Labors 'wasteful spending and mismanagement at Workers Comp MORE is the chair of the Democratic National Committee. During the Obama administration, Perez served as head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and then as secretary of Labor. Follow him on Twitter @TomPerez.

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Republicans put lives in danger to try to steal an election now they want to take your away right to vote | TheHill - The Hill