HLS 20RS-1580 ORIGINAL
2020 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 70
BY REPRESENTATIVE SCHEXNAYDER
CONGRESS: Expresses support for the State and Municipal Aid for Recovery and
Transition (SMART) Fund, proposed for the purpose of helping states and local
governments respond to the current public health and economic crisis
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To express support for the State and Municipal Aid for Recovery and Transition (SMART)
3 Fund as proposed by Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Senator Bob Menendez
4 of New Jersey for the purpose of helping states and local governments respond to the
5 current public health and economic crisis while maintaining essential services.
6 WHEREAS, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Senator Bob Menendez of New
7Jersey have announced a bipartisan plan to deliver critical federal resources to the states and
8communities on the front lines of the COVID-19 fight; and
9 WHEREAS, the State and Municipal Aid for Recovery and Transition (SMART)
10Fund builds upon the existing $150 billion set aside in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
11Economic Security (CARES) Act to help states and local governments; and
12 WHEREAS, the SMART Fund expands eligibility to include parishes and
13municipalities with populations of fifty thousand or greater (the current threshold is five
14hundred thousand), ensures that every eligible entity receives additional funding, increases
15flexibility for states and local governments to use the funds to replace revenue losses due to
16the COVID-19 outbreak, and targets additional funding toward coronavirus hot zones to
17directly combat the pandemic; and
18 WHEREAS, Louisiana has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic, and
19this is an important step toward assisting the state's communities in maintaining essential
20services and protecting the state's financial future; and
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HCR NO. 70
1 WHEREAS, the SMART Fund calls for an additional five hundred billion dollars in
2COVID-19 state stabilization funds to help support state and local government efforts to
3fight the pandemic; these funds can be used to help meet the current demand while helping
4communities transition toward reopening by expanding testing and contact tracing and
5providing additional resources to residents, local hospitals, small businesses, and schools;
6and
7 WHEREAS, specifically, the SMART Fund would deliver funding to state and local
8governments, United States territories, and the District of Columbia in three equal tranches
9based on a new formula that takes into consideration areas of the country with the greatest
10need: one-third to eligible entities based on population size to ensure they each receive
11additional federal resources to meet their growing needs, one-third to eligible entities based
12on the number of COVID-19 cases relative to the U.S. population to target the urgent public
13health challenge, and one-third to eligible entities based on state revenue losses relative to
14pre-COVID-19 projections to target the urgent economic challenge.
15 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
16express support for the State and Municipal Aid for Recovery and Transition (SMART)
17Fund as proposed by Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Senator Bob Menendez of New
18Jersey for the purpose of helping states and local governments respond to the current public
19health and economic crisis while maintaining essential services.
20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to each
21member of Louisiana's congressional delegation.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 70 Original 2020 Regular Session Schexnayder
Expresses support for the State and Municipal Aid for Recovery and Transition (SMART)
Fund as proposed by Senator Bill Cassidy of La. and Senator Bob Menendez of N.J. for the
purpose of helping states and local governments respond to the current public health and
economic crisis while maintaining essential services.
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