For Immediate Release
Illinois Democrats Attempt to Grab COVID Relief Funds for Bailout
Sean Casten’s effort to hold up small business relief is NOT about testing, masks and ventilators.
April 18, 2020 – And there it is. Illinois Senate President Don Harmon outlined demands for a federal bailout of the State of Illinois in an official letter to members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation (included below).
Notably, the letter was published by Wirepoints.com, a public policy site, rather than a Chicago or Suburban media outlet, which continues their decades of service as the Illinois Democrat Party’s communication shop. Liberal-leaning New York Times even posted a story. Harmon’s letter is national news. But our local media says nothing. And neither does Sean Casten. Wirepoints reports:
“The Democratic caucus seeks well over $41.6 billion, including important crisis-related relief such as $1 billion in public-health aid to minority communities and unspecified amounts for increased Medicaid reimbursements and hardship payments to health care facilities.
“But the vast majority of their request amounts to a national bailout of Illinois’ pre-pandemic failures. It includes:
- $15 billion for a no-strings-attached block grant;
- $6 billion for the state’s unemployment trust fund;
- $10 billion for the state’s pension funds; and,
- $9.6 billion in unrestricted aid to Illinois municipalities, again for pensions.
“…Also notable is that the $6 billion bailout for Illinois’ unemployment trust fund stems from the state’s comparatively poor management of it. Illinois, prior to the pandemic, had the fourth-worst funding level for that state fund.”
“So the hold up on much needed relief for small businesses is NOT about needing more testing, masks and ventilators,” said Jeanne Ives, Candidate for Congress in IL-06. “It is about getting a bailout for Illinois, after decades of political mismanagement. And Sean Casten has said nothing. Illinois Democrats are nothing if not consistent. One way or another, they will get taxpayers to pay for their big government failures. And they will use the least able to defend themselves – in this case, small business owners – to do it.
“Harmon’s letter reveals the truth: very powerful politicians are protecting their party over people in real need. They are seeking to benefit politically from a global health crisis. The malevolence of Sean Casten and Illinois Democrat politicians is stunning.” 
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For more information or to book Jeanne Ives contact Kathleen Murphy at 630-329-4680 or kathleenemurphy26@gmail.com.
