Tag: relief

COVID dollars: Stimulus, relief or bailout? A closer look at some math

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.truthinaccounting.org/news/detail/covid-dollars-stimulus-relief-or-bailout-a-closer-look-at-some-math

Excerpt:

Illinois and Connecticut state governments don’t pay taxes to the federal government. In Illinois’ latest financial report, a report prepared by the department led by Mendoza (note that the latest report available is for fiscal 2019, for a fiscal year that ended more than 600 days ago), Illinois reported roughly $25 billion in grant “revenue,” most of it from the federal government. This doesn’t add up to Illinois contributing more in federal taxes than it receives from the federal government.

So how does their math work?

To claim that Illinois and Connecticut act as donor states, Mendoza and Lembo are “counting” on the money sent by their state’s taxpayers to the federal government, a very large amount.

But when they call for federal “relief,” they aren’t calling for federal money for state taxpayers. They are calling for federal “relief” to be sent to state governments.

Author(s): Bill Bergman

Publication Date: 8 March 2021

Publication Site: Truth in Accounting

Lower-Income Covid-19 Aid Recipients Seen Boosting Consumer Spending

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/lower-income-covid-19-aid-recipients-seen-boosting-consumer-spending-11613298600?mod=djemwhatsnews

Excerpt:

Early signs point to an uptick in consumer spending at the start of the year, particularly by lower- and middle-income households receiving payments through the most recent Covid-19 relief package.

Spending by consumers who make less than $60,000 a year jumped by more than 20% in the week ended Jan. 10—the week after the U.S. Treasury Department began electronically sending stimulus payments of $600 per adult and $600 per child for individuals with adjusted gross incomes under $75,000—according to the research group Opportunity Insights’ tracker of figures from Affinity Solutions, which collects consumer credit- and debit-card spending data.

Author(s): Harriet Torry

Publication Date: 14 February 2021

Publication Site: Wall Street Journal

House Democrats Push Minimum Wage Raise in Covid-19 Relief Bill Despite Senate Concerns

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-democrats-to-craft-covid-19-relief-bill-with-minimum-wage-increase-11613168330?mod=djemwhatsnews

Excerpt:

House Democrats are preparing to stitch together a legislative version of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief proposal next week, which will include an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour despite a second Senate Democrat opposing it this week.

House committees spent the past week shaping portions of the legislation, including the proposal to gradually increase the federal minimum wage to $15 over four years. Early next week, the House Budget Committee is expected to assemble all the pieces into one bill, which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said should pass the full House by the end of the month.

Author(s): Kristina Peterson and Andrew Restuccia

Publication Date: 12 February 2021

Publication Site: Wall Street Journal