“Because states and local governments have to balance their budgets, a lot them had to lay off state employees and local employees when the economy slowed and tax revenues fell,” Mr. Biden said. “We’re talking about 1.3 million state and local employees out of work.”The details of the disbursement have been eagerly awaited by the states, cities, territories and tribal governments that are expected to receive money. But several Republican-led states and the Biden administration are in a legal confrontation over whether states can cut taxes after taking relief money and using it to solidify their budgets. The Treasury made clear on Monday that it would insist the relief money not be used to subsidize tax cuts, directly or indirectly. If the state cannot do that, Treasury can claw back that amount of money.

Source: New York Times May 10, 2021 17:06 UTC