President Trump Should Issue An Executive Order Requiring State Accountability
Pelosi’s CARE Act 2.0 State Aid (Anon discussion)
Pelosi cited state and local government aid shall be part of the next stimulus relief package that being discussed solely within the Democrat Caucus. Articles from prior notables linked below. So no actual details have yet been disseminated to the public. One item that should be addressed in advance of any bill being presented is state accountability.
POTUS should issue an executive order prior to passage of a relief bill that will require states to provide a full accounting of expenses due to the epidemic. The federal government should not be obligated for the day-to-day expenses of the states. Combined annual state budgets is about $2 trillion (wiki page list of state budgets). A full account of receipts for public moneys drawn from the Treasury is a requirement of the US Constitution, Article I Sec 9 Clause 7.
“No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.”
https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/
An example of such requirement can be found under disaster relief assistance for PA, the state requires a full account and certified amount for requested aid. The federal government should have the same requirement (if not already stipulated under federal laws and regulations). Even if it is just a public reminder, an executive order would be beneficial to keep the public informed.
PA Emergency Declaration requirements for loans and reimbursements:
§ 7304. Community disaster loans.
Whenever, at the request of the Governor, the President has declared a major disaster to exist in this Commonwealth, the Governor is authorized:
(1) Upon determining that a political subdivision of this Commonwealth will suffer a substantial loss of tax and other revenues from a major disaster and has demonstrated a need for financial assistance to perform its governmental functions, to apply to the Federal Government, on behalf of the political subdivision, for a loan and to receive and disburse the proceeds of any approved loan to any applicant political subdivision.
(2) To determine the amount needed by any applicant political subdivision to restore or resume its governmental functions and to certify the amount to the Federal Government. No application amount shall exceed 25% of the annual operating budget of the applicant for the fiscal year in which the major disaster occurs.
(3) After review, recommend to the Federal Government the cancellation of all or any part of repayment when, in the first three full fiscal-year periods following the major disaster, the revenues of the political subdivision are insufficient to meet its operating expenses including additional disaster-related expenses of a municipal operation character.
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&ttl=35&div=0&chpt=73&sctn=4&subsctn=0
Pelosi relief bill articles:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/pelosi-signals-support-for-massive-new-payroll-subsidies-as-small-business-loan-fund-nears-expiration-2020-05-05?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congress/house-democrats-will-preview-massive-aid-package-beginning-tuesday