Sunshine Sentinel

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says that the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package formula that distributes financial aid to states relative to unemployment rate is unfair to Florida and other states that have lower unemployment rates, according to Tampa Bay Times.

“You shouldn’t be penalizing states for doing a good job, which is exactly what this bill does,” DeSantis told reporters. “Instead of using the share of the population, they are using the number of unemployed in the state, which means states like Florida that have lower unemployment are getting penalized.”

Based on the formula, Florida will receive a one-time payment of $16 billion in financial aid. Florida had an unemployment rate of 6.1% in December. By contrast, California a state with an unemployment rate of 9% receives $26 billion in federal funding. 

Led by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, 22 governors, including DeSantis, added their signatures to a joint statement opposing the bill after it passed the U.S. House of Representatives and then was signed into law last week by President Joe Biden. 

"A state’s ability to keep businesses open and people employed should not be a penalizing factor when distributing funds," read the statement. "If Congress is going to provide aid to states, it should be on an equitable population basis.”

Florida Rep. Joe Geller (D-North Bay Village) argued that as long as the state receives enough funding to cover its $2 billion in projected budget shortfalls, it shouldn't matter that some other states get more funding.

“We will certainly be helped more than other states are helped,’' Geller said, as reported by Tampa Bay Times. “I don’t think it’s a disadvantage to us if we’re not the highest recipient. The bottom line is, if money comes here that’s a good thing. Period. If it helps to overcome our projected deficit, that’s an even better thing. And just because some other state might get more, it doesn’t make that a disadvantage for us.”