Thursday, April 30, 2020
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, ahead of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s press conference on the Coronavirus, Senator Rick Scott released the below statement and a list of questions the Governor should address in the briefing.
Senator Rick Scott said, “Yesterday, Governor Cuomo used his daily briefing as an opportunity to attack me to distract from the fact that he wants his state bailed out by Florida taxpayers. He also claimed that those of us who care about how American taxpayer dollars are spent are somehow attacking states with significant cases of Coronavirus. That’s a lie and simply meant to distract from the woeful fiscal policies of Governor Cuomo and other liberal governors around the country. Florida has made the tough choices that New York has refused to make for decades and can get through this crisis without a bailout. The federal government should continue to reimburse states and local governments for expenses related to Coronavirus response. But it’s irresponsible and reckless to take money from American taxpayers and use it to save liberal politicians like Cuomo from the consequences of their poor choices. Floridians shouldn’t have to backfill New York’s state budget and pension fund. American families make responsible budgetary decisions every day. Florida’s done it for years. It’s time for New York to do the same.”
Senator Scott is calling on Governor Cuomo to address the below questions in today’s briefing:
- How do you explain the fact that New York has 2 million fewer people than Florida and a budget twice the size of Florida’s?
- What concrete steps has New York taken to address its underfunded pension system?
- Why do you continue to conflate federal taxes paid and benefits received (e.g., Social Security and Medicare) by individuals with state budgets? Is it because you assume the American people and the media are stupid and won’t understand the difference?
Today, Senators Rick Scott, Ted Cruz, Ron Johnson, Mike Lee, and Mike Enzi sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging the Administration to reject states’ efforts to receive taxpayer dollars for non-Coronavirus related expenses, like bail-outs for unfunded pensions or to backfill lost revenue.