Moolenaar bill stops elected officials from receiving pandemic recovery funds as bonuses

Legislation introduced last week by U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI) would prevent elected officials from receiving premium pay as eligible workers through the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund.

Specifically, H.R. 4968 would prohibit elected public officials, who have the authority to designate who is eligible to receive premium pay, from being designated as such eligible workers to receive federal funds from the recovery spending bill, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Moolenaar’s office.

“I am introducing legislation that will protect taxpayers and stop what happened in Shiawassee County from happening anywhere else in the country,” Rep. Moolenaar said on Aug. 5.

The Shiawassee County (Mich.) Board of Commissioners in July voted to pay themselves bonuses ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 using money the county received from the federal government as part of President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund spending bill.

“Republicans argued for a targeted approach to help in our nation’s fight against COVID-19. However, Democrats in Congress insisted on a partisan $2 trillion spending bill that sent $350 billion to states and communities regardless of whether or not those communities needed the money,” said Rep. Moolenaar last month. “It’s wrong, and I will be working in the coming days to address this issue with legislation and protect taxpayers.”

Last week, the congressman said that when Democrats passed the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund in March, they should have included rules that would stop local officials from giving themselves money from the recovery fund spending bill. 

“My legislation will put those rules in place and stop something like this from happening across the country,” he said.

H.R. 4968 has been referred to the U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee for consideration.