Mayor Melvin Carter of St. Paul Minnesota joins Yahoo Finance's Kristin Myers to break down what President Biden's plans for state and local aid could mean for the city's residents.

Video Transcript

KRISTIN MYERS: Now, as I mentioned at the start of this program, Senator Chuck Schumer saying that a stimulus deal might not happen for another month to six weeks, which, of course, is going to have a huge impact on cities. So let's bring on St. Paul, Minnesota Mayor Melvin Carter. Mayor, thanks so much for joining us today.

Starting on that point of stimulus, President Biden's proposals, of course, have not been passed yet and might not be passed for several weeks. But how would his proposals-- unchanged as of right now-- impact the city of St. Paul?

MELVIN CARTER: Thanks for having me on, and I appreciate the question. You know, our city, like cities across the country, has gone through one of the hardest years we ever have. We've seen residents who are experiencing unsheltered homelessness increased by a factor of 10. We've seen more unemployment claims, more people out of work, more families struggling to feed their children.

We, of course, haven't had the support, haven't gotten help from the federal government under President Trump. And so we're excited to have a president in President Biden who not only knows that cities across our country need the help, but knows that we need the help now. And so to see him taking the quick urgent action through executive order to help us care for residents who have experienced homelessness, to help us ensure that we are feeding our families, to help us ensure that we're taking care of people on the local level, just means an enormous amount.

Our students are struggling. Our teachers are struggling. Our schools are struggling. Our local governments are struggling. And so to have the amount of resources coming from Washington, DC quickly as the Biden and Harris administration is making them available can change the game in all of these areas for us.

KRISTIN MYERS: Now, aid to state and local governments like St. Paul was a huge sticking point in the last negotiations in Congress, which took months before another stimulus package could be passed, which did not include that aid to cities like yours. Not much has changed in Congress. There are still a lot of Republicans that are balking at this price tag of almost $2 trillion, also still disagree that a lot of aid should be handed out to state and local governments.

So what then happens to St. Paul? You were just highlighting how badly aid is needed in your city. What happens if you don't get it or if the amount that you get is really a drop in the bucket compared to what you need?

MELVIN CARTER: That's exactly right. You know, the thing we have to realize is when the federal-- when the Trump administration, for example, would say Democratic cities, you know, it's not me that it hurts when they withhold aid from St. Paul. It's our local businesses. It's our students. It's our families. It's our workers. It's our communities. It's our police officers and firefighters who are struggling to keep in our budget, our recreation leaders and our librarians who are trying to make sure it can continue to provide high-quality public services for our residents.

In fact, what local governments do, whether that's cities or counties across our country, what we do is care for people who too often fall through the cracks of our federal system. And so the individuals who live in tents in our communities across the country, they're not getting a stimulus check. They're relying on their local government to help connect them to some support. And so for the federal government to withhold that support from local governments and state governments is to withhold the support that Americans need. And frankly, we have to work to ensure that those members of our community are protected from COVID, too, or else none of us will be.

And so that's my concern is that we are facing an enormous and ongoing crisis. We don't have an end date in sight. And the only thing that's going to qualify as an adequate response is going to be an enormous and ongoing response. So we are working with our federal delegation to ensure that it does include relief for local governments and state governments and tribal governments across our country, and also that it includes stimulus for families that is not just a one-time stimulus but is an ongoing sufficient amount-- substantial amount-- that can help families achieve stability in this moment.

KRISTIN MYERS: Yeah, as you're mentioning, Mayor, a lot of families and folks falling in the cracks. What comes to mind it is a lot of immigrants or families of mixed immigration status also falling through the cracks, which this proposal hopes to address. Now, when I think about that, of course, I think about the vaccine rollout that we have underway. Some states, some cities are requiring proof of residency before you can get vaccinated. I'm curious to know how the vaccine rollout is going in St. Paul.

MELVIN CARTER: You know, it's been a challenge. It's an enormous logistical lift. We were really disappointed by the last administration's false promises around vaccine supply and a storehouse of vaccines that would be coming to us that didn't come. Excited again for the vision of the Biden administration to in the first 100 days make sure that we are right-- kind of setting that course correct.

And so we're working to ensure first that our health care providers get it. My wife is a health care provider and she's now gotten both courses. I know that we have somewhere around just around 250,000 Minnesotans who have already received at least the first course and another 60,000, I think, who have received the second course.

And so we're pushing it forward and pleased to have a federal administration that we can count on to be good, honest partners in that work now.

KRISTIN MYERS: All right, we've heard about how the vaccine rollout, as you're mentioning, has been very difficult for a lot of cities. The sites where people can go and register for a vaccine have been crashing. And then we hear just nationally that the vaccine rollout is far under where we want and also need it to be in terms of this fight.

I know what you're saying, that you were let down in the last administration. Has any moves been made with this new Biden-Harris administration to help you, to help your city, start rapidly increasing the numbers of folks that you're able to vaccinate inside your city?

MELVIN CARTER: Yeah, much of that is happening at the state level, and we're fortunate in Minnesota to have a governor who understands the seriousness of this crisis and is working to help us resolve it. I know that we are pursuing right now opening a new major kind of center-- vaccination center-- that people can go and get their vaccination. And so that would be something that would help our work significantly.

But again, our work has been directly with our governor and with our state public health agency to ensure that that's possible, and it does feel like we're making progress. We're in the process citywide right now, citywide of getting our fire department vaccinated, and our police department will be up next. So, you know, making sure that our first responders, our health care providers, and also at-risk kind of communities, including our senior citizen population, which we have a large senior citizen population, receive those vaccinations first is gonna continue to be a priority of ours. And it's something we're appreciative of being able to work really closely with our state governor's office and our state administration to make that happen.

KRISTIN MYERS: Now, another population that is quite large in St. Paul is the immigrant population.

MELVIN CARTER: That's right.

KRISTIN MYERS: I was looking at some stats. About 10% of folks in Minnesota are immigrants, and in St. Paul, specifically, about 20%-- at least based on the stats that I was looking at before-- are identified as immigrants, which is a huge number. We have had President Biden essentially propose more immigration proposals. One of them would be a path to citizenship for so many undocumented immigrants inside the United States right now. I'm wondering what that could mean and what his plan could mean economically for your city to really allow folks to fully participate in America, which, of course, means that they can participate economically as well.

MELVIN CARTER: That's exactly right. You know, this COVID crisis is really exposing what Martin Luther King called our unescapable web of mutuality wherein whatever impacts one of us really impacts all of us. We know that whether someone is documented or undocumented, no matter what an individual's immigration status is, if they are in our community and they are exposed to COVID, we can get it from them. And so that means we are all at-- we all have a stake in ensuring that all of our residents have protection, all of our residents are served, all of our residents have access to our social safety net. And that's not just about serving them, but it's because we all are literally in this together.

Our economy is the exact same way. I always tell folks, you know, that, you know, should, you know, my neighbor's house catch fire, you know, I want them to feel comfortable. You know, my family's safety is dependent on them feeling comfortable calling 911. So our safety net is like that. We can't afford to lock people out of our national economy, our national services-- the American life, as you put it-- based on immigration status. So I'm appreciative of that. I know we have a lot of residents in our community who are appreciative of the opportunity to connect.

And then we also know that once people have the opportunity to establish citizenship, that their ability to participate in the local economy goes up. Their ability to make a wage goes up. Their ability to pay taxes goes up. Their ability to be a contributing member of our community goes up. So I think those proposals only stand to benefit St. Paul they only stand to benefit all of us, not just those families who will personally take advantage of it. And they only stand to benefit our American economy at a point in time where our American economy really needs the help.

KRISTIN MYERS: All right, St. Paul, Minnesota Mayor Melvin Carter, thank you so much for joining us. Also I want to thank your baby for joining us for this conversation as well.

MELVIN CARTER: Yes.

KRISTIN MYERS: I know you're pulling double duty over there.

MELVIN CARTER: He's hiding and eating.

KRISTIN MYERS: So we appreciate you joining us today.

MELVIN CARTER: Thank you very much.