Four Democratic governors of California, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon sent a joint letter to Congressional leaders today asking for an additional $1 trillion in federal aid to support their flailing economies directly resulting from the governors closing down their states and not allowing businesses to operate despite their states’ populations reporting less than a fraction of one percent of death rates resulting from the coronavirus. State executive order shutdowns have directly led to record unemployment in these states and across the country.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in his daily press briefing Monday that he joined the governors’ and legislative leaders of Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington in signing the letter requesting aid from Congress.

Newsom tweeted: “Without federal support, states will be forced to make impossible decisions. Today—CA, OR, WA, NV, CO, and our legislative leaders have joined together to ask the federal government for $1 trillion to protect our schools, public health, and public safety services.”

In January, California was projecting a $6 billion surplus.

“Those numbers are completely flipped,” Newsom said Monday. “The challenge is enormous,” saying the state is “now running historic deficits” as tax revenue plummets because of economic shutdowns.

California has paid out $13.1 billion in unemployment claims since the the governor first put in place stay-at-home orders that shuttered nonessential businesses. Roughly $350 million of that money came from a loan from the U.S. Treasury Department. Since mid-March, 4.5 million Californians have filed for unemployment, the most in the U.S.

“It’s not just states asking for a bailout, quite the contrary,” Newsom said.

Critics are quick to point out that asking for an additional $1 billion, is in fact, a bailout.

Newsom wants to spend #coronavirus emergency tax $ on cash for illegal aliens AND assaults clean elections through mass mailing of ballots PLUS Court should hold @genflynn's persecutors in criminal contempt.@foxandfriends @JudicialWatch @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/kr6Jj0C3iH https://t.co/vPWUFyJYcJ

— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) May 10, 2020

Hey Newsom, go ahead, use bailout money to buy out and evict foreclosed mom and pop live-in landlords because you told their renters to default, so you can move in homeless drug addicts because heroin use is a "lifestyle." @gavinrecall2020https://t.co/7KiNKK0W5G

— Edward Ring (@edring) May 8, 2020

Liberal strongholds like California and Illinois have mismanaged their budgets for decades and now they want a bailout? Not on my watch. https://t.co/1bEJI8h4i7

— Doug Collins (@CollinsforGA) May 6, 2020