States want to use federal stimulus payments to fund tax cuts
CBSN
Some U.S. states want to use the economic aid delivered under the federal government's recently passed coronavirus package in order to cut taxes. The problem: The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, which provides states with hundreds of billions in assistance, bars using the emergency funding for tax relief.
More than a dozen states are considering new tax credits or cuts that could be jeopardized because of the relief funds. Some of these cuts have been planned for a while, and others are just starting to be pursued. West Virginia, for instance, has been looking to cut its state personal income tax following the successful rollout of the vaccine in that state and an improving economy. "Congress may not micromanage a state's fiscal policies in violation of anti-commandeering principles nor coerce a state into forfeiting one of its core constitutional functions in exchange for a large check from the federal government," Republican West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said in a statement.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.