Hoyer Backs GOP: No State Bailouts
The Hill reports:
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Tuesday echoed a warning from Republican leaders, agreeing that states shouldn't expect a bailout from Washington to help them deal with their budget woes.
"We did that in the last couple of years, [but] we can't continue to do that," Hoyer said of the state bailouts. "The states have a responsibility themselves to determine how they can best manage their finances within the constitutional constraints they face."
On Monday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said that states struggling with budget troubles shouldn't expect any bailouts from Washington now that Republicans control the House — a message Hoyer conceded is the new reality.
"I don't think you're going to see substantial additional assistance to the states in this Congress," Hoyer said.
The state support championed by the Democrats over the past two years "was appropriate," Hoyer said, "but now … we've been out of this recession, according to economists, for some time now. And while employment is not responding as rapidly as we would like … I think that we're going to be focusing very much on how we're going to balance our budget and invest in growth."
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