evidence: Like Biggs, other Republican politicians, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, criticized requests for help from states with high rates of infection. We wondered if Biggs was correct in saying that New York has been demanding federal funding to "bail out" its pension system, which was "failing long before the COVID-19 outbreak, and other programs that aren’t related to this crisis." [...] Biggs said New York’s pension system was "failing long before the COVID-19 outbreak." [...] We were also interested in the second part of Biggs’ claim, regarding "other programs not related to this crisis," because of reports that New York’s finances were precarious before the pandemic. According to the nonpartisan Citizens Budget Commission, before the coronavirus, New York faced a $7 billion budget gap. The subsequent economic downturn has worsened the state’s finances.