Don’t Buy Into the “COVID Relief” Spending Spree

President Biden has spent the past several months lobbying Congress to spend more money for COVID-19 relief and, for a while, Senate Democrats seemed poised to reject his proposal. That changed when the Senate took up the Small Business COVID Relief Act of 2022 this week. 

The bill would throw another $48 billion into the economy and give it to restaurants, gyms, minor league sports teams, live music venues, and buses and ferries. Last month, the House passed a similar measure that would send even more money, $55 billion, to restaurants and entertainment venues. This spending is unnecessary, harmful, and blind to Americans' real needs and problems. 

According to the Committee of a Responsible Federal Budget’s COVID Money Tracker, at least $750 billion of congressionally authorized COVID relief money has yet to be spent. There is more than enough money out there to fund whatever is needed. The Senate bill barely touches this money, reappropriating only $5 billion that went unused from the Payment Protection Program in 2020. Rather than repurposing these unspent funds, this bill would add $43 billion in new deficit spending. 

Sen. John Thune told The New York Times that all  COVID priorities can be accomplished without additional spending if the Democrat majority in Congress is willing. "This can get done, but it’s in their court, and it just requires them to be willing to repurpose some existing funds, which they’re reluctant to do.” It is this reluctance that has led to the unsustainable deficit increases over the past three years. 

In addition to the method of funding, the priorities of this legislation are also misplaced. By singling out a few industries and allowing federal agencies to choose certain entities to receive grants, the federal government would be using taxpayer dollars to pick winners and losers within those industries. 

One also would reasonably wonder whether these industries are really in need. Should $500 million for minor league sports teams or $2 billion for live music venues be our top priority? The latest economic data shows that other industries, like the restaurant industry, are in much better shape today. Consumer spending at restaurants has already surpassed pre-pandemic levels by 2%. Restaurant traffic is down merely 7% and is expected to be nearly back to normal by the end of the year without billions in federal dollars. Even excluding cars and gas, total retail sales have risen 10.3% from 2021. Businesses are back without the need for more government funds. 

This bill would further fuel inflation by throwing more money into the already hot economy. The inflation crisis is one of the biggest problems facing our nation. It is bad enough for Congress to focus on legislative issues unrelated to this disaster, but this bill would increase inflation and make things worse for average Americans. Paige Terryberry, a senior analyst of fiscal policy at the John Locke Foundation, said, “government spending is the cause of, not the antidote for record inflation.”

Just a few months ago, President Biden urged Congress to allot $22.5 billion more in COVID money saying, "if we fail to invest, we leave ourselves vulnerable if another wave of the virus hits” and “without more funding, we risk running out of the supply" of PPE, vaccines and boosters, and other COVID treatments. This should be the priority for COVID-related spending. However, at this point, public health is no longer at the forefront. 

Last week, President Biden acknowledged massive amounts of unspent funds. Instead of directing them to use it to stockpile PPE and COVID treatments, he urged “every governor, every mayor, every county official… [to] spend this money now that you have [through ARPA]. Use these funds we made available to you to prioritize public safety. Do it quickly, before the summer, when crime rates typically surge.  …Hire the police officers.” 

Lawmakers have shown that they are willing to spend on anything and call it “COVID relief.” We were willing to spend more to stay afloat during the public health emergency, but this does not mean the American people should or will put up with unlimited deficit spending for any purpose whatsoever. All future COVID relief funding should remain exclusively focused on our public health needs and take into account unused previously appropriated funds. It is time to stop this madness of wild spending spree and look to fiscal responsibility and well-ordered public health priorities.

Dr. Chad Savage is the founder of YourChoice Direct Care in Brighton, Michigan