This op-ed by SPN Senior Policy Advisor Michael Lucci first published at National Review.

President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) into law on March 11, capping a year of unprecedented federal aid to families, firms, and state and local governments. Yet emerging evidence reveals the self-defeating nature of this costly federal overreach. Since ARPA was signed, jobs reports have fallen a combined 900,000 jobs short of economists’ expectations. Inflation is hitting levels not seen in a decade, eating away at Americans’ savings. And state and local governments are flush with excessive federal cash — even as the federal government piles up debt. States do not have to accept congressional overreach; they can take the lead in putting Americans back to work.

Employment trends vary widely across states, revealing the profound impact of state policies. For example, Idaho and Utah have already recovered the payrolls lost during the pandemic, and South Dakota is not far behind. States such as Texas, Tennessee, and Arizona imposed fewer economic restrictions during the pandemic, and they are just months away from a full jobs recovery. On the other hand, states such as Michigan, California, and New York imposed draconian economic measures, and they remain more than a year from recovering their pre-pandemic jobs counts.

Read the full article here.