Congresswoman slams Alabama state GOP senator for plan to use COVID-19 money for new state house

Alabama Democrat Rep. Terri Sewell on Tuesday slammed a state GOP senator for suggesting using $200 million in federal coronavirus stimulus money on a new state house.

Alabama State Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh recommended the idea after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey allowed the state legislature to come up with ways to spend the $1.8 billion the state has received in coronavirus stimulus from the federal government in the CARES Act. Marsh and Ivey are Republicans. 

Sewell said that Congress could prevent future coronavirus stimulus funding from being used by states for initiatives unrelated to COVID-19 by better targeting federal aid directly to cities and counties.

“Clearly that was something that was totally out of line and really was an extreme abuse of power, in my opinion, to think that using $200 million of federal funds that are meant to go to this public health crisis, which has caused an economic crisis,” she said during a virtual press conference.

The $3 trillion HEROES Act, proposed by House Democrats on Tuesday, contains $1 trillion of additional federal stimulus funds for states and localities across the country.