Fellow County Commissioners across the nation and I are doing all we can to get help to our constituents. Many of us are members of the National Association of Counties (NACo). NACo is a large organization of all county commissioners across America. As you may know, there is strength in numbers. Therefore, NACo frequently spearheads legislation at the state and federal level to advocate for local county needs. Through NACo, local leaders across the nation presented a call to action on March 21, 2020, to ask our federal legislatures to send funding down to the local government levels directly so that we can best help our residents.

Local government is closest to the people. We provide many necessary services from our general funds, which are collected locally. Many local governments, like ours, are bound by a balanced budget. However, it is likely that the current budget will not be enough to provide the relief that our constituents will need in these unprecedented times.

Our letters to congress members and senators were heard! Lack of funding to local governments, among other items, became a sticking point in the Senate [1]. They are now looking at a package that “also contains $339.855 billion in emergency supplemental funding for the government’s battle to stem the outbreak, the bulk of it going to state and local governments, according to a summary from Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby…There also is a separate $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund for state, local, and tribal governments.” [2]

Let’s hope that they keep this amendment in the CARES Act.

You can read the letter I sent below.

[1] https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/22/coronavirus-stimulus-congress-141360
[2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-25/white-house-senators-strike-deal-on-massive-stimulus-package

Letter

From: Commissioner Emily Bonilla, Orange County, District 5   

Date: March 21, 2020

Subject: Request for Support for S.3548 CARES Act 

I am the Commissioner for Orange County, Florida, District 5. I am calling on you because the third stimulus bill – Senate Bill S.3548, also known as the CARES Act – is woefully inadequate to the crisis at hand. We need a stimulus bill that includes economic relief for state and local governments.

I am calling on you all, as a federal representative for Orange County to provide a bill that helps the local communities. I ask for a bill that provides each state with a grant equal to 7% of combined state and local government own-source revenue collected last fiscal year. Orange County could greatly use this funding to allow us to adequately address the needs of our middle- and low-income families and small businesses as quickly as possible. This will help us quickly restore our local economy, which depends on the tourism industry that has been hit tremendously by this crisis. 

I urge you to enact a bill to allow relief funds at the state and local levels. Thank you for your support and consideration in this matter.