A Reality Check on Federal Fiscal Assistance

It has been assumed that federal fiscal assistance will be provided for state revenue losses from the COVID-19 recession, but pushback has emerged.

Employment: The Canary in the Coal Mine

In the Great Recession, a portion of federal fiscal relief was linked to a state’s unemployment rate, for good reason.

The Past as Precedent

In the “dot com” recession and the Great Recession, the federal government provided fiscal assistance to states. The scale was different, but there were common elements.

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