Misleading: Stimulus Bill Benefits Mainly Democratic States
The Claim
Most of the new stimulus relief bill that just passed is only going to benefit Democratic states and cities.
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Emerging story
Some lawmakers have claimed that the partisan relief bill that President Joe Biden recently signed into law will mostly benefit areas of the United States that have Democratic majorities in their local governments.
This includes Representative Doug LaMalfa, who on March 10th, 2021, claimed the following: “Democrat-run States will receive 20% more per person than Republican-run States.” Similarly, on February 23rd, Representative Brad Wenstrup stated the following: “All told, this generous definition of Covid-related provisions tallies some $825 billion. The rest of the bill—more than $1 trillion—is a combination of bailouts for Democratic constituencies, expansions of progressive programs, pork, and unrelated policy changes.”
Some conspiracy news sites have also claimed that the bill “is nothing but a financial payoff to the Democrat-controlled cities and states that RIGGED the election.”
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation shows that it is misleading to claim that almost all of the relief money is going to “Democrat cities and states.” For example, USA Today reports that California, Texas, and New York will gain 29% of the direct aid that the American Rescue Plan Act gives to states and cities, while the states contain 27% of America’s population. Only two of these states are Democratic states. Texas voted Republican in the 2020 election, and has had a Republican trifecta in the state government since 2003. The reason why California, Texas, and New York get more funding than population is because they have larger percentages of unemployed residents.
Technically, the majority of the funding in the relief bill’s funding is going to states that voted for President Biden in the 2020 election. 60.4% of the aid is going to these states. However, the reason for this appears to be due to the fact that unemployment has hit these states harder in the coronavirus pandemic, not because they are Democrat-run.
