Bipartisan support grows for election funds in Senate stimulus bill
Bipartisan federal, state and local officials on Wednesday threw support behind Congress sending states more funds to address election challenges, such as increased mail-in voting, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a Senate Rules Committee hearing on 2020 election preparations, committee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a key player in securing the funds, said he was open to looking into giving states more election funding with low levels of required state matches.
“I think we ought to go back and look at the money you currently have available to you, and maybe make that money more consistent in terms and times it has to be spent and give you more access to the money you’ve already got in addition to trying to identify the right amount of new money,” Blunt said while addressing state officials at the hearing.
Pressure on the Senate to approve further election funding has increased in the wake of the primary elections, during which many local and state officials ran through much of their portions of the $400 million in election funds included in the CARES Act stimulus package signed into law by President Trump in March.
These funds came with a requirement that states provide a 20-percent match, which has become a stumbling block in states reeling from a drop in revenue due to the pandemic.
A further $3.6 billion for elections was included in the House-passed HEROES Act stimulus package passed in May, the amount experts have pointed to as necessary to ensure states can hold safe and secure elections during the pandemic.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has described the overall bill as a “liberal wishlist,” and said Tuesday that he plans to roll out a GOP stimulus package this week. He has not yet indicated where he stands on election funds, but backed the previous $400 million.
Senate Democrats, voting rights advocates, and current and former officials from both sides of the aisle have pushed hard for funding and federal legislation to expand mail-in and early voting during the COVID-19 crisis.
Sen. Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said during the hearing Wednesday that giving states more funding was essential, emphasizing that the previous $400 million was “not enough.”
“I would rather be putting ballots in a mailbox than people in the hospital,” Klobuchar said. “That’s a choice we have for so many voters and that’s why you see overwhelming support for getting funding, and something I believe we can get done on a bipartisan basis.”
