Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday implored President-elect Joe Biden and Democratic congressional leaders not to leave pandemic-ravaged cities and states out in the cold in the next round of stimulus funding.
Lightfoot unleashed her anger when asked about reports Biden is willing to compromise on a coronavirus relief package that does not include replacement revenue for state and local governments.
“I’m very disappointed about what I’m seeing as the developments. I don’t know that that’s the incoming Biden administration as much as it is what’s going on in the Senate,” she said.
“This virus has had a disastrous impact on economies — local, state — all across the country. … The notion that somehow a package would move and get to the president’s desk or signature and there would be zero relief for state and local governments is absolutely unacceptable. I am not someone who says, ‘This way or no way.’ But what are we talking about here?”
Lightfoot said Chicago lost $800 million in revenue to the pandemic in 2020. And $783 million, or 65%, of the $1.2 billion shortfall she was forced to close in her 2021 budget is “directly related to the impact of COVID-19.”
“This has nothing to do with longtime, legacy fiscal issues or pension issues. It has to do with the fact that COVID-19 has wrecked our economy. And the notion that we are supposed to just stand here with nothing — no hope from the federal government — and accept that as OK? No. Absolutely not,” the mayor said.
“If we give in to the heartless Mitch McConnell on so many issues, where is the floor? We are setting a dangerous precedent for the future that will make the new administration’s work that much harder. Because what it says is, if Mitch McConnell draws the line — no matter how unreasonable — we are gonna capitulate to that heartless man who has done so much harm to this country.”
The $12.8 billion budget narrowly approved by the City Council includes plans to refinance $1.7 billion in general obligation and sales tax securitization bonds and claim $949 million in savings in the first two years. Critics called it “scoop-and-toss on steroids.”
Earlier this month, top mayoral aides disclosed plans for $450 million in short-term borrowing — for less than a year, at an interest rate of 1.95% — to buy time for Congress to rescue pandemic-ravaged cities.
