(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) named House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) our August 2020 Porker of the Month for forcing taxpayers across the country to bail out fiscally irresponsible states.

On May 15, 2020, the House passed H.R.6800, the HEROES Act.  Rep. Hoyer led the effort to pass the $3 trillion legislation, which set aside $1 trillion for state and local governments, which already received $150 billion under the CARES Act.  Only three states have spent half of their money and 23 states have used less than 10 percent of their CARES Act money, including hard-hit Connecticut and New Jersey.  Illinois got $3.5 billion from the CARES Act, but is demanding $41.6 billion more to help pay for its massive pension liability.  Rep. Hoyer clearly doesn’t see an issue with giving taxpayer dollars to states who are begging for another federal bailout and ignoring their rainy day funds.

CAGW President Tom Schatz said, “Rep. Hoyer is like a spoiled child who is always demanding more from his parents.  Nothing is ever enough.  By giving big spending states a massive federal bailout, he is sending a message to taxpayers that he doesn’t care about their money, especially when they need it most.  Instead of demanding that they solve fiscal problems of their own making that existed long before the pandemic, Rep. Hoyer is letting state and local governments get away with bad budget behavior.  For his negligent trillion-dollar waste of taxpayer dollars, Rep. Hoyer is an obvious choice for this month’s Porker.” 

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.  For more than two decades, Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to lawmakers and government officials who have shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.