NYAPRS Note: New York is looking at over $8 billion in cuts to overall community services and a 10% to state operations unless Congress secures upwards of $500 billion in COVID related aid in the coming weeks, 12% of which would amount to a total of $60 billion. The House appears to be on board but we need leadership from Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer of NY to press the Senate to approve the allocation to the states. See below for an action alert that tells you how you can contact the Senator today!
Cuomo’s Ask: Up To $60B In Unrestricted Federal Aid
By Anna Gronewold Politico May 7, 2020
ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo has placed a dollar amount on his pleas for funding from Congress to offset pandemic-related economic losses: He wants up to $60 billion in unrestricted aid.
That figure, which the budget division released on Thursday, would account for 12 percent of the $500 billion the nation’s governors have requested.
“Every state in the nation joins New York State in facing a fiscal crisis and in New York it comes following a decade of unprecedented economic growth and the creation of a record number of jobs,” budget spokesman Freeman Klopott said in a statement to POLITICO. “New York, California, Illinois and Michigan represent about one-third of U.S. economic output, and supporting our states will be critical to our ability to lead the national economic recovery.”
New York officials backed up the request with a stark new financial outlook that anticipates a $13.3 billion revenue loss this year and $61 billion over the next four years. Without federal assistance, New York is on track to cut more than $10 billion in spending, much of which would be to localities that run hospitals, schools and emergency systems, according to the Cuomo administration.
The state and the National Governors Association, of which Cuomo is vice chair, want to nearly double the 6.2 percent reimbursement rate for Medicaid to 12 percent through the Federal Medical Assistance Percentages to support those who have lost jobs and employer-sponsored health insurance. And they are calling on FEMA to follow through on President Donald Trump’s reported commitment to Cuomo last month to pay the 25 percent share of FEMA funding that states are required to spend.
Other states have also begun to specify their needs: Last week New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy told Trump the state could use $20 billion to $30 billion.
Cuomo was critical of New York’s congressional delegation during negotiations over previous coronavirus relief packages, especially after they imposed restrictions limiting some dollars to combating the virus rather than filling certain revenue holes that have emerged during the pandemic.
“[House] Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi cannot pass a piece of legislation that leaves out police, fire, and state and local governments. She cannot do it. Well, she can’t do it again,” Cuomo told his brother, Chris, during a CNN appearance on Tuesday. “And those congressional Democrats cannot come back to their home state like New York, California, like Illinois, and say, ‘well, we lost again, and there’s no funding to do the testing and the tracing and funding for teachers and schools and we’re going to have an economic collapse.’”
Cuomo has also tangled with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell after the senator asserted that New York and other Democratic states wanted a “bailout” in their requests for more money.
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office did not comment on Cuomo’s figures, but has offered numbers outlining at least $15 billion the state has been authorized to receive in direct federal aid, including education, transportation and FEMA funds from the previous relief packages.
“New York can and should put these funds to work to fight the coronavirus public health emergency and to address its budget challenges,” Schumer’s office said in the release.
But congressional Democrats say additional help is on the way. Schumer said Thursday that he and Pelosi are gearing up to unveil a “Rooseveltian” relief package. Schumer, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Antonio Delgado (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) on Wednesday also announced they are pushing bipartisan legislation to support localities by establishing local relief funds split evenly between a state’s counties and towns, cities and municipalities.
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