Cornyn reaches across the aisle to help counties

Key Takeaways

Comparing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic to the “domestic version of World War II,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told county officials that it was one of the reasons why he co-sponsored legislation to give counties more flexibility when it came to spending Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.

Cornyn made his remarks during the Feb. 14 General Session at the 2022 NACo Legislative Conference. He noted that legislation he crafted would help counties struggling to spend their shares of the $5 trillion in COVID rescue funding authorized in March 2020. Counties faced a Dec. 31, 2021 deadline to spend their share of CARES Act funding, or must have had a contract in place by that date to spend it by September 2022. 

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NACo analysis of the Cornyn-Padilla bill

"If you had told me previously that I would have voted for $5 trillion worth of funding for anything, I would’ve thought you had lost your mind,” he said.

"The COVID-19 pandemic stressed our communities," he said, revealing greater challenges yet to overcome. "Americans knew what we had to do at all costs: Stop the spread of COVID. One of the ways Congress aimed to stop the spread is by releasing rescue funding.

“You’d have to go back 100 years to really have anything comparable from a public health standpoint,” he noted.

Cornyn saw the struggles counties endured trying to respond to the crisis. He proposed legislation to solve the problem, reaching across the aisle to work with Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).

Together, they crafted the State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Fiscal Recovery, Infrastructure, and Disaster Relief Flexibility Act, one of the few bills to pass unanimously in the Senate in some time. The act gives counties much needed flexibility in how they respond with CARES and APRA funding by extending the spending deadlines if unspent aid is used for eligible infrastructure projects. The bill would allow counties nationwide to use a total of over $27 billion for new transportation and infrastructure projects and over $17 billion for government services

“I reached out to my friend and colleague, Alex Padilla from California to create a third option and that is to allow you to spend the money you have if you have access to funds that can’t be spent for already identified purposes, to spend it on necessary infrastructure projects,” Cornyn said. “We all know that infrastructure is something that is not just here today and gone tomorrow. It’s a long-term investment in our economies, and our communities.” 

The bill is awaiting a vote in the House, and NACo passed an interim resolution in support of its passage hours after Cornyn spoke.

Crafted in the original bill are “guardrails” to ensure communities spend COVID rescue funds responsibly. Cornyn and his colleagues, in addition to adding more ways to spend the funding, are still set on ensuring the funds are spent correctly. It was important to Cornyn, he said, that the new flexibility did not come with mandates on spending but was not too lax that communities could spend the funding in less effective ways.

He encouraged communities to spend the funding for natural disaster relief and infrastructure investments in addition to the already allowed uses. “You know the needs of your community best, and you should have the flexibility to spend this money where it will do the most good,” he said.

Cornyn has served at all levels of government, gaining firsthand experience in the challenges communities face. He said communication between county COVID emerged. County leadership provided valuable insight into the needs of the community which helped Congress respond with haste. “Your work and advice and counsel is invaluable to us in Congress, because we know we can't solve problems if we don't have an accurate picture of what the need actually is,” he said.

Cornyn praised county leaders for their continued service through these trying times. “I’m grateful for all of the work that you do throughout this great land and for the advocacy that you bring here to Washington D.C.,” he said. “There's never been a more important time to have thoughtful, dedicated and engaged leaders.”