New York Times Calls Out Republican Governors’ ARP Hypocrisy

Economist: “To Trash a Policy and Then Take the Benefits of It — That’s a Pretty High Level of Hypocrisy”

A new report from the New York Times is calling out Republican governors for hypocritically taking credit for state projects funded by the American Rescue Plan after opposing the legislation.

“It’s absurd on several levels,” said economist Dean Baker. “To trash a policy and then take the benefits of it — that’s a pretty high level of hypocrisy.”

Read more from the New York Times below: 

[…]

DeSantis, for instance, said the plan was “Washington at its worst.” But he later talked up his proposal for a $1 billion gas tax holiday, along with bonuses for teachers and first responders — all of which relied on federal funds. On Wednesday, he unveiled nearly $300 million in spending for education without noting that the money came from Washington.

Florida’s state budget benefited from billions from the rescue plan alone: $8.8 billion in state and local fiscal recovery funds, $2.47 billion in child care stabilization and supplemental funds, $703.8 million in funding for K-12 education and $740.5 million in emergency rental assistance. Towns and cities in Florida also received $7.11 billion to help plug the holes the pandemic created in their budgets, along with $6.33 billion in education funding and another half a billion dollars in rental assistance.

The pattern is similar in other red states:

• In Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds boasted about her state’s investments in broadband, housing and water quality — all of which came from the rescue plan.

• Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, used rescue-package money to pay for water projects, housing affordability and day care programs.

• And Hogan, the governor of Maryland, has talked about federal anti-crime programs that were funded through the rescue plan, though he has said he would have voted against it.

[…]

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