Mnuchin: It’s Very Clear There Is Not Going To Be Bipartisan Support that Bails out States from Previous Problems

EXCERPT:

MNUCHIN: "There’s ongoing discussions on this. But, you know, I’ve heard very clearly from the president and the Republicans that we are not bailing out state pensions and other things. And I have not heard from the Democrats that they’re willing to do it. They want to throw a lot of money at this problem, but I think it’s very clear there is not going to be bipartisan support that bails out states from previous problems. And one of the things we did last week at the president’s direction, I think it was very important, we gave a lot of money to the states. We created more flexibility. So we said they could use that money for firemen, first responders, policemen, so that in no uncertain terms the states didn’t have to lay off those people because they were having budget issues. We’re also very quickly opening up the lending facility that the Fed working with the Treasury so that states that have cash flow issues can borrow. And as you know, with interest rates very, very low, states can borrow this money, some of them would have to make changes because they do have balanced budgets, because this is -- this is a one-time situation that is quite different. But we’ll be working with Congress to discuss these issues and many important issues like the liability issue. We want to make sure that it’s businesses opening up there’s not frivolous lawsuits."