National Association of Counties Urges Congress, White House to Provide Immediate Relief to Support COVID-19 Response on the Ground

WASHINGTON – As congressional leaders and the White House negotiate the interim emergency coronavirus relief package, or the COVID-19 3.5 supplemental package, the National Association of Counties (NACo) today issued the following statement. NACo Executive Director Matthew Chase said:

“Counties thank Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer for their efforts to provide direct,  immediate funding to our nation’s county governments on the front lines of addressing the far- reaching health, safety and economic impacts of COVID- 19.

“Now is the time for the administration and Congress to unite and help counties fulfill our vast public health, public safety and economic recovery responsibilities. We cannot afford to wait.

“In a report released yesterday, NACo found that the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to massive budgetary impacts for county governments and local taxpayers, with as much as $144 billion in  lost revenue and increased expenditures through FY2021.

“The interim emergency relief package is a good step toward helping us maintain the services  our residents and small businesses need during this historic public health and economic crisis.

“A strong federal-state-local partnership has become more crucial than ever. We call on Congress and the administration to provide direct funding to support the vital services counties deliver.”

Led by 40,000 elected county officials, counties’ 3.6 million employees serve more than 300 million residents, operating over 1,900 public health departments, nearly 1,000 hospitals, more than 800 long-term care facilities and 750 behavioral health centers. Additionally, county governments are responsible for emergency operations centers, human services, jail management, 911 services, coroners and medical examiners.

NACo’s coronavirus online hub includes county level examples of response efforts, maps tracking county and state emergency declarations and analyses of federal actions. View this resource-rich webpage at www.naco.org/coronavirus.