Thomas Breen photo
Sen. Blumenthal (right) with Mayor Elicker at Monday’s presser.
Richard Blumenthal made a post-election pitch to his Republican colleagues in the U.S. Senate: Start negotiating now over a new Covid-19 relief package worth at least $2.2 trillion.
Families and small businesses and state and local governments hurting during the pandemic cannot wait a minute longer.
Connecticut’s senior U.S. senator put out that call Monday morning during a press conference held on the front steps of City Hall.
Standing alongside Mayor Justin Elicker and Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) Executive Director and CEO Joe DeLong, Blumenthal sought to turn up the pressure on Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The presser came just hours before the upper legislative chamber resumes session Monday afternoon; two days after major news outlets projected that the Democratic ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have won the presidency and vice-presidency; and amidst a regional and nationwide surge in new Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations.
“In red states, in blue states, our cities and towns and the states themselves are facing this fiscal vise that is gripping and crippling the future of our society,” Blumenthal said. “We need to come together right now. We can do the next pandemic relief program literally by the end of this week. We can vote on Thursday. If Mitch McConnell puts it on the floor of the Senate.”
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives has already passed the $3.4 trillion HEROES Act, he said. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that she will go as low as $2.2 trillion in a subsequently negotiated bill. Blumenthal said $2.2 trillion is likely the “bottom line” for a bill he would support. But that bill must by “robust, comprehensive, and inclusive.”
What that means to him? Direct aid to state and local governments. Another round of stimulus payments for families in need. Hazardous duty pay for frontline workers. More financial aid for vaccine development, personal protective equipment, and a national testing strategy. And more loans for small businesses to help them stay afloat amidst the ongoing economic devastation of the novel coronavirus.
Blumenthal was asked if Democrats would be sacrificing leverage in negotiations by pushing for a bill now as opposed to January, when President-Elect Biden assumes office and the Democrats might have control of the Senate as well as the House (depending on two runoff elections in Georgia). He replied, “The need is too urgent. We need to do it now, not later.”
Blumenthal also said that Biden has indicated that he would like to be a part of the negotiations over a new bill even before he assumes office. What that might look like is uncertain.
As for whether McConnell has made any noises about backing a substantive relief bill after months promoting instead a “skinny bill” turned down by Democrats, Blumenthal pointed to comments the Kentucky senator made the day after Election Day. At the time McConnell said passage of a new relief bill before the end of the year is a priority of his.
“He has been totally unspecific about the amount” of such a bill,” Blumenthal said. “He has been completely absent from the talks.”
The last major, new Covid-19-related relief package passed by Congress was the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, which was signed by the president in late March.
$13.2M Local Deficit Projected
Elicker (pictured) and DeLong backed up Blumenthal’s call for more aid by citing the fiscal pain cities like New Haven are feeling now, and the likely solutions Connecticut municipalities will have to turn to if federal support does not come soon.
Elicker said that the city is now projecting that it will end Fiscal Year 2020 – 21 (FY21) with a $13.2 million deficit. The fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30, 2021.
The mayor said that projected local deficit is driven by a likely steep drop in certain budgeted revenues, such as parking meter and parking tag collections. The city is eyeing significant overages in certain expenses, like police and fire overtime. That latter driver comes in part from the sharp uptick in violence that New Haven — like other cities across the state and country — has seen during the pandemic.
“As the economy continues to deteriorate, that will put more pressure on us to do more while we have less money to do it with,” he said. Having direct funding from the federal government to state and city governments, he said, “is desperately needed and will keep us on track to support our residents.”
DeLong (pictured at center) agreed. He called for new federal aid with fewer strings attached that allows state and local governments to make up for lost revenue during the pandemic.
Without further federal support, he said, one of two things is likely to happen. Towns and cities are going to face “massive increases to their property taxes” to make up for lost revenue. Or they’re going to make “massive cuts to local services.”
DeLong said that Congresspeople worried more about the federal deficit than about jumpstarting the economy are suffering from a “mentality that is the most pennywise and pound-foolish approach that any of our federal representatives can take.” That’s because, if the federal government does not step in to help stabilize and grow the economy during such a crisis moment, then government deficits across the country will only grow as revenues plummet and expenses increase.
Trump’s Lack Of Concession “Will Be A Tiny Footnote In History”
When asked about his thoughts on how over 70 million Americans voted to re-elect Donald Trump this election, Blumenthal pointed to President-Elect Biden’s speech on Saturday night, just a few hours after he was projected to be the victor in the race.
“He wants to be the president of all Americans,” he said.
Blumenthal said he himself has “very strong convictions” about a number of progressive priorities. “I think we need a Green New Deal. I think we need to take dramatic steps to conquer the virus and expand our healthcare system. We need to put people back to work through major infrastructure programs.”
“But,” he continued, “we also need to have civil conversations.” He said that, just like Biden, he plans to reach out to constituents who voted for Trump and assure them that he is an elected representative for all of Connecticut — not just for Connecticut Democrats.
Blumenthal called on Republican legislators across the country to “speak up” about the integrity of this country’s election system, and about their willingness to respect the will of the voters and to work with a newly elected Presidential administration.
Blumenthal said that he and fellow U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy did exactly that in 2016 after Trump was elected. He recalled standing with his Senate colleague and saying, “Trump won; we lost. We’re going to respect the integrity of the election system and work with Donald Trump if we can.”
As for Trump’s refusal to concede the race so far, Blumenthal said, “His lack of a concession will be a tiny footnote in history.” While it is “sad and pathetic,” he said, it will likely be “of little note” because concessions do not determine election results — the voters’ ballots do.
Click on the Facebook Live video below to watch the full presser.