Ohio Sues Biden Administration Over Stimulus Package

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is filing a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its $1.9 trillion stimulus package.

President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion stimulus package last week before giving a national address on the first anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill includes the $1,400 stimulus checks and vaccine funds.

According to a KVUE ABC report, Yost said on Wednesday that he already filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against part of the bill, which he claimed threatens to withhold needed federal funds from Ohio.

The lawsuit centers on a $350 billion fund meant to help states, cities, and counties cover the costs of responding to the pandemic. According to Yost, the requirements and restrictions on how the $350 billion aid can be spent are "unconstitutional."

The stimulus bill allowed cash-strapped local governments to tap federal aid to pay for the cost of dealing with the pandemic. However, it prohibited states from using the money to cover the costs of tax cuts on their budgets.

"The federal government should be encouraging states to innovate and grow business, not holding vital relief funding hostage to its preferred pro-tax policies," Yost said.

Ohio is set to receive $5.5 billion as part of the stimulus package. However, Yost alleged that the "Tax Mandate" forces Ohio and every other state to accept the funding with conditions.

These conditions include not using the funds directly or indirectly to offset tax cuts or credits, which according to Yost, provides states with a choice "to either accept the stimulus funds or keep their sovereign authority to reduce taxes."

"Slipping last-minute conditions into a plan meant to help people that instead handcuffs Ohio is why people don't trust government," Yost noted.

On Tuesday, 21 Republican attorneys general sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, asking for clear guidance on how the measure would be applied, The Week reported.

Treasury Department spokesperson Alexandra LaManna said it is clear that Congress may create reasonable conditions on how the stimulus package should be spent, and these conditions are used all the time and are constitutional.

LaManna explained that states are free to make policy decisions to cut taxes, but they could not use the pandemic relief funds to pay for those tax cuts, Politico reported

Stimulus Package

Gene Sperling, a veteran of the Clinton and Obama administrations, would oversee the distribution of the stimulus package.

Sperling would deal with the White House policy councils and federal agencies' heads to get funds out immediately. Biden said that Sperling would be coordinating with mayors and governors, may it be red or blue states.

According to a Forbes report, the stimulus law would also extend the weekly unemployment benefits, amounting to $300, until September.

The package will also provide aid to low-income households with funding worth $30 billion that could be spent on both rent and utility payments. Also, $5 billion will be handed out for emergency assistance to states that would help people secure housing, particularly those at risk of homelessness.

The $350 billion emergency funding allotted to states, cities, and counties would help pay frontline workers. The fund can also be used to distribute vaccines, expand testing, and reopen schools. There would also be funding for small businesses that are struggling during the pandemic.

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