Haaland, Bustos, Rose Introduce Legislation to Guarantee Equal Response for National Guard COVID-19 Response Efforts

Statement

Today, U.S. Representatives Deb Haaland (NM-01), Cheri Bustos (IL-17), and Max Rose (NY-11) introduced new legislation to force the Trump Administration to cover the full cost of National Guard deployments for COVID-19 response efforts throughout the nation. Currently, only Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, and Texas receive full cost coverage. This past Saturday, every other state and territory was reduced to 75 percent, leaving already cash-strapped states to pick up a multi-million dollar tab, putting missions in New Mexico at risk.

In New Mexico, National Guard operations during the COVID-19 pandemic include support to the Navajo Nation, rapid response testing, facility sanitization, and planning and operational support to state mission partners and on-call transportation. For the past several months, the federal government has covered 100 percent of the associated costs for deployment. Inevitably, the New Mexico National Guard's missions to stop the spread of coronavirus and rapidly deploy life-saving strategies throughout the state will be impacted by the Trump Administration's failure to cover the full cost of their efforts.

"Our National Guard members stepped up to deliver medical supplies and disaster relief to communities in New Mexico and across the country during this pandemic, yet, the Trump Administration refuses to adequately cover costs for their increased role and instead attempts to burden some states, who are already struggling with local budget impacts. It's shameful," said Congresswoman Deb Haaland. "We introduced the UNITED Act to make sure the Trump Administration doesn't ignore the needs of our communities and ensures our National Guard members have the support they need to accomplish their missions during this public health emergency."

"This Administration needs to learn that it is responsible for every state and territory in our nation, not just those from which it hopes to curry favor," said Congresswoman Bustos. "In the middle of a pandemic, this Administration decided to play political games and give preferential treatment to some states over others. Without providing any public health or economic justifications, it has burdened some cash-strapped states with a bill while exempting others -- even though the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on every budget. It's clear this pandemic is far from over and a consistent strategy is needed. That's why the UNITED Act will guarantee every state and territory receives equal treatment and the help they need from our National Guardsmen for as long as needed."

"The Administration shouldn't be nickel-and-diming New York State, and definitely shouldn't be selecting which states to help based on whether they voted for the President," said Congressman Rose. "Forcing New York to pay this burden will cause more layoffs of cops, firefighters, first responders, and teachers, while other states get off free."

BACKGROUND

Representatives Bustos, Max Rose (NY-11) and Deb Haaland (NM-01) led a call of more than 30 lawmakers urging the Trump Administration to extend the activations of men and women in the National Guard for the entire duration of the declared disasters and emergencies so they can continue to assist with the nation's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic uninterrupted. The letter demands the Administration explain the change in the federal cost-share of National Guard deployments which will force struggling states to cover a quarter of the cost, resulting in states being burdened with millions in unforeseen expenses. The lawmakers also raised concerns about why Florida and Texas were initially the only states exempt from the new cost-share agreements.

The Administration also failed to implement a reliable plan for how long members of the National Guard will be activated. Rather than provide consistency to servicemembers and states, the Administration has frequently waited until the last minute to extend activations that were set to expire soon -- leaving states in the lurch as they continue to respond to the pandemic and servicemembers facing an uncertain future.

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