To fight Trump's funding freezes, states propose a new gambit: Withholding federal payments

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Democratic legislators mostly in blue states are attempting to fight back against President Donald Trump’s efforts to withhold funding from their states with bills that aim to give the federal government a taste of its own medicine.

The novel and untested approach — so far introduced in Connecticut, Maryland, New York and Wisconsin — would essentially allow states to withhold federal payments if lawmakers determine the federal government is delinquent in funding owed to them. Democrats in Washington state said they are in the process of drafting a similar measure.

These bills still have a long way to go before becoming law, and legal experts said they would face obstacles. But they mark the latest efforts by Democrats at the state level to counter what they say is a massive overreach by the Trump administration to cease providing federal funding for an array of programs that have helped states pay for health care, food assistance and environmental protections.

“Trump is illegally withholding funds that have been previously approved,” said David Moon, the Democratic majority leader in Maryland’s House of Delegates. “Without these funds, we are going to see Maryland residents severely harmed — we needed more options on the table for how Maryland could respond and protect its residents.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/fight-trumps-funding-freezes-states-093000945.html

[cbabe]

1. Not paying the bills is a tried and true longtime t tactic.

[MichMan]

2. Won't that result in state employees facing penalties by the IRS for not paying their taxes?

Payments available for withholding include the federal taxes collected from the paychecks of state employees, as well as grant payments owed back to the federal government.

[stillcool]

3. I imagine the states would help

it's time for states to look out for their own, any way they can. The federal government has declared themselves the enemy.

[W_HAMILTON]

4. Employers remit payroll taxes to the federal government -- not employees.