Title 42 — The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§6721 Congressional findings of fact and declaration of policy

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 80— - PUBLIC WORKS EMPLOYMENT › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - ANTIRECESSION PROVISIONS › § 6721

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Congress says the federal government should give emergency help to state and local governments to support the national economy. State and local governments are a major part of the economy, and their money problems have hurt their budgets. Because of that, they may raise taxes, lay off workers, delay or cancel construction projects, or use federal jobs to replace laid-off employees—actions that can weaken federal efforts to boost the economy. Helping these governments avoid those budget cuts will make national recovery efforts work better.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §6721

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Congress finds—

(1)that State and local governments represent a significant segment of the national economy whose economic health is essential to national economic prosperity;

(2)that present national economic problems have imposed considerable hardships on State and local government budgets;

(3)that those governments, because of their own fiscal difficulties, are being forced to take budget-related actions which tend to undermine Federal Government efforts to stimulate the economy;

(4)that efforts to stimulate the economy through reductions in Federal Government tax obligations are weakened when State and local governments are forced to increase taxes;

(5)that the net effect of Federal Government efforts to reduce unemployment through public service jobs is substantially limited if State and local governments use federally financed public service employees to replace regular employees that they have been forced to lay off;

(6)that efforts to stimulate the construction industry and reduce unemployment are substantially undermined when State and local governments are forced to cancel or delay the construction of essential capital projects; and

(7)that efforts by the Federal Government to stimulate the economic recovery will be substantially enhanced by a program of emergency Federal Government assistance to State and local governments to help prevent those governments from taking budget-related actions which undermine the Federal Government efforts to stimulate economic recovery.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 6721

Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73