ICYMI: Sharice Davids Reneges on Bipartisanship in Corrupt COVID Vote
House Democrats passed their corrupt, $1.9 trillion socialist wish list disguised as COVID relief – with 91% of the package having no direct connection to the pandemic.
Sharice Davids previously voted against the Dems last package for not being bipartisan enough.
Even though every Republican and two Democrats voted against the current package, it seems Davids decided her party’s socialist agenda comes before bipartisanship.
In case you missed it…
Davids backs COVID-19 stimulus after opposing similar bills last year. What changed?
Bryan Lowry
February 27, 2021
https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article249550943.html
Kansas Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids voted against a $2.2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill in September because it was too “partisan.” Five months later, she helped pass a $1.9 trillion relief bill on a party line vote.
So what changed?
For starters, Davids’ party now controls the Senate and the White House. President Joe Biden’s stimulus plan, which passed the U.S. House early Saturday by vote of 219 to 212, stands a significantly better chance of becoming law than the measures approved by the House last year.
The bill will provide $1,400 checks to most Americans and billions in aid to state and local governments, including roughly $1. 6 billion to Kansas and nearly $2.8 billion to municipal governments around the state.
That includes $118 million to Johnson County; $32 million to Wyandotte County, and $7 million to Miami County, the three counties that make up her district. Her two biggest cities, Kansas City, Kansas, and Overland Park, stand to receive $53 million and $18 million respectively.
The bill also steers $20 billion toward national vaccine distribution and $10 billion to ramping up production of personal protective equipment and other supplies.
No Republicans voted for the bill in the House. The Senate is expected to pass the package in the near future by the narrowest possible majority with Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote against vocal GOP opposition.
Davids was the only lawmaker from Kansas to vote for the bill, which was supported by all but two Democrats.
“The coronavirus pandemic is continuing to destroy lives and livelihoods across the country. Just last week, we passed the tragic milestone of having lost 500,000 lives to the virus. Meanwhile small businesses are struggling to keep their doors open and millions of workers have lost their jobs,” Davids said in a statement.
“The nationwide vaccination effort is moving us in the right direction and giving us hope for the future, but in the meantime, we need to get relief out to Kansans who are hurting.”
She said she had long been pushing for policies in the bill, including direct checks and “aid to our state and local governments to keep our teachers and firefighters on the payroll.”
But similar provisions existed in relief bills that Davids voted against last year when she was in the middle of her first re-election contest. At the time, she pointed to concerns about partisanship and the scope of the legislation as her reasons for opposing the Democratic-crafted legislation.
Sharice Davids defends her vote against COVID-19 relief bill in House
“I’ve been consistently pushing the leadership of both parties to come together to make sure we get a bipartisan relief package…” Davids told The Star last year after she was one of 18 Democrats to vote against the $2.2 trillion package.“At the end of the day the folks at home don’t want to see a partisan package.”
Davids’ Saturday vote in favor of the legislation reflects how expectations have changed for the Kansas Democrat.
The party holds a much narrower majority in the House than it did during her first term — only a 10-seat advantage on Republicans — and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can ill-afford to lose her or other swing district Democrats on key votes.
“While not a perfect bill, and while I’ve opposed partisan exercises in the past, the American Rescue Plan has the support to become law and get much needed relief into the hands of the American people right away,” Davids said Saturday, acknowledging her past votes against similar legislation.
She also cited language that incentivizes states, such as Kansas, to expand Medicaid, a provision she pushed to include.
Republicans said Davids’ vote in favor of Biden’s stimulus plan undermines her claims of bipartisanship.
“This was the first real test for Rep. Davids and her supposed moderate credentials and she failed. This bill is Nancy Pelosi’s partisan wish list, chock full of trillions in spending that has nothing to do with the pandemic,” said Kansas Republican Party spokesman C.J. Grover, who previously worked for Davids’ GOP predecessor Kevin Yoder.
“The only thing that’s changed between now and the fall when she voted against COVID relief legislation is the occupant of the White House, and Ms. Davids has proven to be a reliable vote for this administration’s radical agenda.”
Republicans are likely to mail postcards in next year’s election reminding voters about Davids’ support for trillions in spending. She’ll be able to respond by pointing to the cash that poured into the 3rd Congressional District.
And while it’s tough square Davids’ previous comments with her vote, the Kansas Democrat would’ve faced far greater backlash from political allies and constituents had she voted against Biden’s first major proposal.
The proposal for direct checks is overwhelmingly popular and local leaders have been anxious for aid.
Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has been pleading for flexible federal aid since last year as the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the state’s tax revenues. Local government leaders on both sides of the state line have been doing the same.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, for example, plans to use the $181 million headed to Missouri’s largest city to prevent cuts to the police department and other city services in the face of a pandemic-created shortfall.
Missouri is set to receive $2.8 billion for state government and another $2.5 billion divided among municipalities.
Missouri Republican Gov. Mike Parson’s office had previously said that federal aid would be unnecessary, but on Thursday the governor confirmed he’ll “accept the money when the money comes in” and said he’ll be looking at how to “utilize that money for long-term investments in the state.”
The region’s freshman lawmakers sided with their parties. Kansas Republican Reps. Tracey Mann and Jake LaTurner cast votes in opposition, while Missouri Democratic Rep. Cori Bush supported it.
The rest of the delegation voted as they had on similar bills last year.
Missouri Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, who has voted for every proposed relief package, enthusiastically cast his vote for the bill. In a statement, Cleaver touted the bill as an ambitious plan “to control the pandemic, provide urgently-needed relief to families and workers, and jumpstart the American economy.”
Missouri’s Republican lawmakers uniformly opposed the legislation, including Kansas City area Reps. Sam Graves and Vicky Hartzler who both decried the bill’s spending as wasteful.
“By pushing this bill through Congress in the name of ‘relief,’ we are recklessly gambling with our future while expanding our national deficit by trillions,” Hartzler said in a statement.
“With a growing economy, COVID numbers going down, and over $1 trillion still available for ongoing needs, now is not the time to go further in debt by passing wish-list pork for the Speaker disguised as ‘COVID relief.’”