With coronavirus cases surging and state and local governments implementing various shutdowns, Democratic Party leaders are calling for another $2.4 trillion federal stimulus spending while Sen. Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans have pushed a $500 billion stimulus bill. One of the points of disagreement has been how much aid to give to state and local governments.
As Congress negotiates more COVID-19 aid, the discussion would benefit from better data. Distorted or stale estimates of the overall need for aid — and how it breaks down across entities — may result in windfalls for specific governments at the expense of federal taxpayers.
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