Prairie State Wire

Open The Books CEO/Founder Adam Andrzejewski believes politicians are ensuring that democratic-leaning states benefit the most from the federal government’s $1.9b federal stimulus plan.

“Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats changed the formula from the traditional form based on population to the unemployment rate of the fourth quarter,” Andrzejewski told The National Desk. “It had the effect of shifting dollars to states like California, New York, Illinois and New Jersey. States whose governors had their states more locked down. Florida’s the big loser.”

Andrzejewski said "tribal states" are also benefitting from the new way of distributing relief funding, with tribal governments receiving more ($20 billion) than a state like Florida ($17 billion).

Ultimately, Andrzejewski said the bill has about $1.1b in untargeted spending, paving the way for some of the wealthiest places in the country to benefit from the largesse.  

“We took a look at the 50 richest places across the country and they stand to rake in over $100 million out of this bill,” he said. “Much of the spending in this bill is waste but all of it is borrowing.”