Mitch McConnell Mocks Malibu
MALIBU, CA — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took the city of Malibu to task for sending a letter that allegedly requested billions to help fund electric vehicles.
“Yesterday, I received an urgent letter from the city of Malibu, California,” McConnell told Fox News Wednesday. “And – I promise I am not making this up – they asked Congress for hundreds of billions of dollars for state and local governments because they have had to delay conversion to an all-electric city fleet.’ I guess that’s an emergency in Malibu: when they can’t keep buying brand-new electric cars as quickly as they’d like.”
Mayor Mikke Pierson's Aug. 4 letter was also addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Pierson urged Congress to support $500 billion in “direct and flexible federal assistance to local governments of all sizes to sustain core services for our residents and to support public health and economic recovery in our communities.”
Pierson highlighted a number of municipal initiatives that have been indefinitely postpone due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including a solar energy project, streetlight upgrades, resiliency projects related to wildfire and earthquake preparation, and of course, an all-electric city fleet.
Pierson pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a nearly $7 billion revenue shortfall over the next few years, which is expected to grow. The letter also noted that the first CARES Act – Congress is currently deadlocked debating its successor – did not contain funding to offset these shortfalls.
Since the first CARES Act did not provide any relief to local governments with populations under 500,000, Malibu was not included, and the letter urged Congress to remove any minimum population threshold for aid.
Our country is facing bigger problems than whether Malibu gets to upgrade its street-sweepers. Struggling families need help now. Democratic leaders must stop blocking aid to Americans over their unrelated left-wing wish list. https://t.co/PHu90VDeJd
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) August 5, 2020
But McConnell was having none of it, and likely chose to highlight Malibu because of its national reputation as a wealthy coastal enclave. He soon tweeted that “our country is facing bigger problems than whether Malibu gets to upgrade its street-sweepers. Struggling families need help now. Democratic leaders must stop blocking aid to Americans over their unrelated left-wing wish list.”
City spokesperson Matt Myerhoff that McConnell had taken the letter out of context.
This article originally appeared on the Malibu Patch
