City workers and their allies rallied in front of Philadelphia’s City Hall to protest cut to the city’s budget that would see slashes in essential services across the board, on May 26, 2020. | Cory Clark/Getty Images

Cities that had barely recovered from the Great Recession face huge budget shortfalls yet again.

America’s mayors are begging for help.

Unless Congress passes a coronavirus relief package, cities and towns across the country are going to struggle “to keep the lights on” and perform basic services like responding to 911 calls, Joe Buscaino, president of the National League of Cities and president pro tempore of the Los Angeles City Council, told Axios.

In May, the National League of Cities (NLC) found that US cities are facing a $360 billion revenue shortfall over the next three years. And since then, there’s been little