President Biden: “The American Rescue Plan will bring needed help to the states.”

The President met with governors and mayors this past week.

From the White HouseRemarks from President Biden

I’m fortunate to have today a group of leading governors and mayors of both political parties to talk about the COVID plan that we’ve put forward, and their needs and their ideas and their recommendations on how to proceed.

And the American Rescue Plan is — has multiple pieces. The most important piece, in my view, is making sure we give them enough capacity to deal with the virus in their states and how we’re going to do that.

Transcript: Remarks by President Biden Before Meeting With Bipartisan Group of Governors and Mayors to Discuss the Vital Need to Pass the American Rescue Plan

Oval Office

11:44 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Thanks for coming in. I’m fortunate to have today a group of leading governors and mayors of both political parties to talk about the COVID plan that we’ve put forward, and their needs and their ideas and their recommendations on how to proceed.

And the American Rescue Plan is — has multiple pieces. The most important piece, in my view, is making sure we give them enough capacity to deal with the virus in their states and how we’re going to do that.

But equally consequential is the need to help the states economically, in terms of everything from unemployment to being able to make sure that they’re able to get kids back in schools and what role the federal government should play in helping getting that done.

And, you know, if — these folks are all on the frontlines. They’ve been dealing with this crisis from day one. It’s — I’m not making a political statement; it just it’s taken a while to adjust. They’ve been left on their own, in many cases.

I think some have found what I found when I got here: that what we thought was available, in terms of everything from vaccine to vaccinators, was not the case.

So I thank them for the work they did in their cities and their states in order to respond to the crisis. But I think it’s — and I’ve said it plainly when I was running and as President — that I think the federal government has a major role to play here. But these are the folks that are on the ground dealing with it every single solitary day. And they see the pain, and they see the successes when they occur.

And what I really want to know about is what should that — the recovery plan — should we have more or less of anything in it; what do they think they need most; how to proceed. Because as I’ve said before, you know, governors and mayors — that’s a real job.

I was a senator for years. I got in a train every day and came to Washington, D.C., and I’d get asked questions by the conductors and the shoeshine guys and the ticket masters and — but every single day, these folks are home. Every single day, they’re meeting with their constituents.

We’re down here in Washington, and we meet with them. I don’t mean to belittle them at all, but it’s not the same as being on the ground. And so whenever I want to know what’s really happening, I want to talk — and I’m not being solicitous — to governors and mayors.

And so thank you for being here. And that’s what we’re going to be doing today. Thank you all.

11:47 A.M. EST

Any bolding added.

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2 Comments

  1. AP: Biden: Governors, mayors need $350 billion to fight COVID-19

    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden met with a bipartisan group of governors and mayors at the White House on Friday as part of his push to give financial relief from the coronavirus pandemic to state and local governments — a clear source of division with Republican lawmakers who view the spending as wasteful.

    As part of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus package, Biden wants to send $350 billion to state and local governments and tribal governments. While Republicans in Congress have largely objected to this initiative, Biden’s push has some GOP support among governors and mayors.

    Republican Govs. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas and Larry Hogan of Maryland attended the Friday meeting, along with Democratic governors, including New York’s Andrew Cuomo and New Mexico’s Michelle Lujan Grisham. The mayors of Atlanta, Detroit, Miami and Arlington, Texas, also were at the meeting.[…]

    Local governments would get $130.2 billion, and tribal governments would get $20 billion.

    The money could be used to cover costs incurred because of the pandemic and lost revenue and to address the negative economic impact of the disease.

    Congress provided $150 billion in direct assistance to state and local governments in an earlier relief package signed into law last March.

    Members of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform debated the merits of the spending for state and local governments on Friday.

    Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the committee’s Democratic chair, said states and communities are desperate for help at a time when the pandemic continues to take lives and livelihoods.

    “This money will allow these governments to distribute vaccines faster, expand testing more broadly and maintain vital services across our country,” Maloney said. “It will also help Main Street economies and save the jobs of our teachers, first responders and other essential workers.”

  2. So A$a met w/ President Biden. I’d wondered why the R legislature wants to sue him and reduce the executive’s already-miniscule power.

    Good for Joe. He’s keeping promises. Not the least of which is continuing to include Tribal governments in his speeches as well as planning. He’s reinforcing the fact that there are Tribal governments and those governments s/b – should always have been – not just included in federal plans but paid attention to on what they needed specifically that’s different from other governmental entities.

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