One group left out of the latest stimulus package nearing passage in Congress today is state and local governments, which have seen significant revenue declines this year. However, Mayor Sharon Weston Broome says Baton Rouge is still not expecting to furlough or lay off workers.
“The city-parish has experienced revenue declines and increased expenses related to COVID-19,” Broome says. “We have had to use a portion of our emergency reserves to offset revenue declines to balance our budgets in 2020 and 2021. We have also deferred capital purchases, and continue to have COVID-19-related expenses.”
Additional federal or state funding would help the city-parish continue to provide services to residents at current levels, replenish reserves, make necessary purchases, and cover the additional COVID-19 related expenses, Broome says.
While Baton Rouge may come out unscathed, The Washington Post reports that economists are concerned that new funding for state and local governments was stripped out of the stimulus deal. They predict the omission will lead to more job cuts and higher taxes in parts of the country. Even as other parts of the economy have regained some employment, state and local governments were still down 1.3 million jobs in November compared with a year ago, with deep cuts especially for public school teachers and aides.
