Trump Would Consider More Funds for Schools That Reopen, Kudlow Says

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump would be willing to consider increasing funding for state and local governments that reopen schools this fall amid the coronavirus outbreak, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said.

“I think the president would be willing to consider additional funding for state and local governments if the schools do reopen, so that’s perhaps an incentive,” Kudlow said Monday in an interview with Fox News. Trump hasn’t made any decision, Kudlow said.

Trump is pushing for schools to resume in-person teaching after the summer break -- a key piece of his push to accelerate the reopening of the U.S. economy even as coronavirus cases continue to rise. Last week the president threatened to withhold federal funding to schools that don’t reopen.

He also attacked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for schools to reopen, saying they were too onerous, costly and impractical.

Florida reported more than 15,000 new Covid-19 cases for Saturday, the highest single day total for any state since the pandemic began. The number of infections in the U.S. now exceeds 3.3 million.

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