Prisons, border wall: How GOP is looking to use COVID money
ABC News
Republicans are using money from the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package for projects on conservatives' wish lists
CHICAGO -- When Democrats passed President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, Republicans called it liberal “pet projects” disguised as pandemic aid.
But now that Republican governors and local leaders have the money in hand, they are using it for things on their wish lists, too.
Alabama lawmakers are advancing a plan to use $400 million of the state's share toward building prisons in what Gov. Kay Ivey says is a great deal for taxpayers. In Texas, a Republican-led county is sending deputies to assist police along the U.S.-Mexico border and pledged to help Gov. Greg Abbott revive former President Donald Trump's plans for a border wall.
In other places, the money has been used to score political points or as leverage in partisan fights over COVID-19 precautions.
