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Senator Chuck Schumer and Suffolk Count Executive Steve Bellone met in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.
It’s about survival, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone stressed during a press briefing on Thursday, July 30, following an overnight trip to Washington, D.C. to meet with members of New York’s congressional delegation to ask for federal funds to offset a county shortfall resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
He went to make yet another plea, along with his Nassau County counterpart, Laura Curran, for immediate federal disaster relief for local governments.
The economic shutdown this spring meant catastrophic losses for the county, which relies on sales tax for its main source of revenue. While aid for the coronavirus response has been forthcoming, state and local governments have been beseeching the feds for additional dollars since April.
Mr. Bellone met Wednesday with Representatives Tom Suozzi, Peter King, Gregory Meeks, Lee Zeldin, and Kathleen Rice, as well as Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.
The discussion was two pronged. First, the county executive thanked the delegation members for leading the fight for funding for local governments. Mr. Bellone said Mr. Schumer especially has been “in the heart of this battle, not only for us, but for communities across the country.”
Next, he detailed what county government has been facing “on the ground.”
“This is not just about budgetary numbers,” he said. “This is about people’s lives.”
He spoke of progress made in combating the opioid epidemic “wiped out by COVID-19.” County health and social services departments are strained, he said, as he addressed upticks in all substance abuse issues, domestic violence crises filling shelters, a 60 percent increase in seniors requesting meals on wheels and a 100 percent jump in calls to suicide prevention lines.
“All the things we deal with, were made worse by COVID-19,” he said. “It feels like we’re in the eye of the storm. We’ve been hit as hard as you can be hit and be still standing.”
Numbers of infections in the county continue to be good, but numbers in states all across the country continue to surge.
“To win this battle, to save lives … we need resources,” he asserted. “This is about our region being able to recover.”
There was a sense that once the shutdown was lifted, “the economy would come roaring back,” Mr. Bellone continued, in retrospect labeling that thought as “magical thinking.”
On Wednesday night, the county executive and Senator Schumer issued a statement calling out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has led the opposition to providing federal dollars to local governments.
“Plain and simple, the McConnell stimulus proposal that has been presented to the Senate would be a gut punch to Long Island workers, families, transit riders, schools, teachers, hospitals, homeowners and more,” the pair said. “Working side-by-side — and in meeting today — we are keeping the pressure on Senator McConnell and standing together with the delegation to overcome the anti-New York bias that’s been baked into his legislation, and actually pass and support something that provides generous state and local aid and eliminates the cap on the state and local tax deduction, which will greatly help the people of Long Island and New York.”
Speaking to the press Thursday, Mr Bellone said that at the outset of the crisis, the senator expressed a preference for municipalities going bankrupt over “blue state bailouts.” He hoped the deadline for the end of supplemental unemployment benefits, slated for Friday, July 31, might spur action.
“Maybe then, they will get serious about negotiating a final deal,” he said, referring to the senate’s stalemate over funding local governments. Without one, the county will have to figure out how to start cutting services.
Mr. Zeldin, whose district includes the East End, was among those meeting with the county executives in the nation’s capital on Wednesday. In a release Friday morning, he said he was “doubling down” on the call for funding for local governments.
“Since the beginning of the outbreak of coronavirus, I have supported additional funding for state and local governments, especially in the CARES Act, and I support adding even more funding in this next coronavirus response bill being negotiated. On Long Island, every level of government, from village hall up, is working together to deliver the resources our communities need, and our colleagues in Congress, on both sides of the aisle, should take note,” he said in the release.
New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. added his voice to the chorus of local elected officials lobbying for relief.
“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, local governments have been on the front lines assuming the tremendous cost of combatting the virus. As a result, local governments here on Long Island and across New York State are reeling from the financial devastation of the virus, and are now experiencing substantial losses in revenue,” he said in a release issued Thursday.
Failing to provide the aid risks the halting of critical services and widespread layoffs, he said, adding, “Assistance from the federal government is absolutely critical to maintaining essential programs and ensuring that New Yorkers can return to their everyday lives.”
Suffolk County is looking at a $1.5 billion shortfall over the next several years due to multi-million dollar losses in sales tax revenue. For the months of April, May, and June, the county collected over $81 million less in sales tax revenue than during the same period in 2019.
