Raleigh – NC’s 2nd biggest city – is too small for direct COVID-19 aid

Raleigh grew by almost 200,000 people during the past 20 years, but it didn’t grow quite fast enough to qualify for direct aid under the federal government’s $2 trillion stimulus bill.

The bill limits direct aid to cities with a population of more than 500,000. Raleigh’s population is about 470,000. Charlotte, with a population of about 872,000, is the only North Carolina city big enough to get a direct share of the $150 billion set aside for state, local and tribal governments.

Raleigh, which ranks among the 50 largest U.S cities, shouldn’t have to depend on intermediary levels of government for assistance. It knows best what it needs and has the government expertise to properly apply federal aid.

As it is, stimulus aid to Raleigh will have to come through the state government and Wake County. That filtering may mean Raleigh’ gets less and city taxpayers will have to pay more to help the city recover from economic loses caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin appealed to members of the state’s Congressional delegation to lower the threshold. They were sympathetic but the cutoff wasn’t changed. She said in a statement:

“We had many conversations with our federal delegation about the COVID-19 Stimulus Bill, known as the CARES Act, as it was being developed, and voiced concerns about the 500,000 resident cutoff for certain types of direct federal funding to municipalities. Our representatives heard us, and understood our concerns.”

In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the U.S. Conference of Mayors asked that the cutoff be lowered to cities. of 50,000 or more. Sending stimulus money directly to Raleigh won’t increase the overall cost of the stimulus. Local aid would come out of the state’s share of funding. Congress should lower the population requirement when it returns.

Although the Republican-led General Assembly has at times been hostile toward the state’s bigger cities, Baldwin thinks Republican leaders will be fair in this crisis.

“While it would have been beneficial for Raleigh’s funding to be sent directly to the City, enabling faster action on issues, we we will receive funding through the State of North Carolina. Every indication is that State leaders intend to distribute funds equitably to all of the impacted communities,” she said.

This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 11:23 AM.