WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — Maine Sen. Angus King (I) gave an impassioned speech from the Senate floor Thursday afternoon to urge action on coronavirus relief. State and local governments across the country, including Maine, are facing severe budget shortfalls due to the pandemic. King says if left unaddressed, the shortfalls will have harmful economic consequences including reduced aid for citizens in need and tax hikes.
In July, the non-partisan Revenue Forecasting Committee projected that the State of Maine would face a $528 million revenue shortfall in the General Fund for the biennium ending June 30, 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Maine could face a revenue shortfall of $1.4 billion over the next three years.
During his speech, King expressed outrage and disappointment at attempts to politicize getting critical relief to communities across the U.S.
“This is a personal tragedy for these families and it's one more blow to the economy. And, by the way, this is not a blue state issue [...] it bothers me, this blue-state, red-state stuff,” Sen. Angus King said. “I have voted for I don't know how many emergency appropriations for natural disasters, for wildfires and floods and hurricanes. It never occurred to me to ask what color the state is. It never occurred to me.…We're a community. This is one country. I don't ask how Florida voted, if there's a hurricane that strikes that state or Georgia or Alabama, which is being hit right now. If they need help, we should provide it. But what we're seeing now is a slow-motion fiscal hurricane that's hitting many, if not all of the states of the United States, and we should come together and help them.”
“We're talking about people's lives here,” King continued. “We're talking about the protection of public services. We're talking about teaching our kids. We're talking about people who are providing the basic protections that we all take for granted in our daily lives.”
King also emphasized the impact of inaction, which he says would cause states to choose between cutting services or increasing taxes.
“When we talk about the states, it sounds like we're talking about these big impersonal entities, but we're really talking about towns, small towns, school districts,” King said. “That's where a lot of this impact is going to fall. And it's a double-edged sword that cuts both ways. It's hurting people, the people who are being laid off, the people who are going to have to be laid off whether they are in a town, a city, a county or a state, but that hurts the economy.”
King concluded by urging his colleagues in Congress to come together and pass meaningful, bipartisan aid that prioritizes funding for states and localities.
“So really I have two simple messages; one, let's make a deal, and, two, that deal should include support for those people and institutions in our states, in our cities, and in our smallest towns so that they will have the wherewithal to be able to help us all get through this thing together. That's what this is all about, and those are the people on the ground who are helping us to get through this together. Mr. President, we can do this. We proved in March we can do it. I think we must and can and will do it again.”
Watch King's full speech here: