04/23/2020

McConnell Wants States to Declare Bankruptcy Before Accepting More Federal Aid

More federal money will result in longer-term impacts of future generations

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday he would rather let state governments declare bankruptcy during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic than receive more federal funding. He suggested Republicans should oppose additional aid for state and local governments in future coronavirus relief bills.

State governments cannot declare bankruptcy, but radio host Hugh Hewitt asked McConnell in an interview Wednesday if "we need to invent" a bankruptcy code so that states facing financial fallout from the pandemic "can discharge some of these liabilities that were put in place by previous governors."

"I would certainly be in favor of allowing states to use the bankruptcy route," McConnell replied. "It saves some cities. And there's no good reason for it not to be available. My guess is their first choice would be for the federal government to borrow money from future generations to send it down to them now so they don't have to do that. That's not something I'm going to be in favor of."

Please select this link to read the complete article from CBS News.