WASHINGTON -- Gov. Asa Hutchinson talked about covid-19 recovery efforts with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House on Friday, joining a bipartisan group of governors and mayors from across the country.
The Arkansas Republican, who said he had expressed concerns about the size of Biden's stimulus proposal, described the meeting afterward as "a good discussion, a good exchange of ideas."
During the gathering, Biden highlighted the administration's efforts to address pandemic-related health and economic challenges, while also promoting his $1.9 trillion relief package, labeled the American Rescue Plan.
Appearing with state and local leaders in the Oval Office, Biden said it's important to "give them enough capacity to deal with the virus in their states. But equally consequential is the need to help the states economically, in terms of everything from unemployment to being able to make sure that they're able to get kids back in schools and what role the federal government should play in helping getting that done."
The federal government "has a major role to play here, but these are the folks that are on the ground dealing with it every single day," Biden said during a brief photo opportunity with his guests.
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As Biden spoke, Hutchinson sat beside Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat from New York, and across from Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico and Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland.
Other participants included the mayors of Atlanta, Detroit, Miami and Arlington, Texas.
The meeting "covered everything from the vaccine distribution to the covid relief package to China relations and potential for future infrastructure investments, so as you can see, we covered a broad range of topics," Hutchinson said afterward.
The White House "didn't provide any specifics" about increased vaccinations or testing at Friday's meeting, but "it's been increasing every week," Hutchinson said, adding, "I expect that to continue."
The governor said he emphasized "the need for increased supply of vaccines" and for states "to have the lead in vaccine administration."
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"It's been a very effective partnership where the federal government provides the supply. We administer it, we get it out and we're showing our effectiveness there, and we want to keep that pattern," Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson said he raised concerns about additional deficit spending, telling Biden that state and local governments "can manage with a lower price tag."
"I pointed out that the last time the federal budget was balanced was when I was in the United States Congress and he was in the United States Senate [in 2001]," the governor said.
Hutchinson declined Friday to propose a dollar figure, saying, "I'm going to leave that with our members of Congress that are working hard on this."
If Arkansas receives "extra money" from the federal government, "we'll put it in broadband expansion in Arkansas and other needs that we have," he said.
Rather than tying federal aid to the states' unemployment rates, Hutchinson said he told the president that the funds should be distributed on a per-capita basis.
"That's the only fair way to do it," he said afterward.
The covid-19 bill that emerges needs to include "support for small businesses. There needs to be some level of stimulus, but what's in there right now, to me, is too high. And then there should be a support for the states in terms of vaccine administration, testing in our schools and sports for our schools. Those are the fundamental parts that we need."
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The conversation didn't turn to waivers for Medicaid work requirements. Politico reported Thursday that the Biden administration plans to eliminate them.
