> Possible opportunities for New York.
Pandemic relief, investments may open up with Biden
Joe Biden's presidency may be a new opportunity for New York to win additional federal investment and recover from the grips of the coronavirus pandemic, as the blue state and its representatives can expect a closer relationship with the Democrat and his administration, replacing an often antagonistic rapport with President Donald Trump.
If Washington can shake off its tradition of gridlock, a Biden administration more immediately could mean more coronavirus relief than Trump would have approved, sending money to schools, states and health providers. Down the road, it may deliver transportation and energy investments to the state, a return to Obamaera climate standards and higher taxes for the state’s wealthiest residents.
"It’s generally going to be a better relationship,” said Philip Klinkner, associate professor of government at Hamilton College. “You’re going to get much more attention to issues that are of concern to New York, especially the city.”
But the extent of the changes Biden will be able to deliver hinge largely on the fate of the U.S. Senate, which may not be decided until Jan. 5, when Georgia will have two run-off elections for its Senate seats.
A Democratic majority Senate would hand the party control of the Congress and the White
House, handing Biden a smooth runway for his agenda. A Republican-led Senate would necessitate bipartisan cooperation to pass legislation and give Republicans opportunity to block bills and judicial and cabinet appointments.
New York’s Democratic leaders forecast a sunnier outlook for the state under Biden, even as the it struggles with a $14 billion deficit and a deadly virus suppressing swaths of the state’s economy.
They expect an open door to the new administration and a receptive ear, after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Democratic members of the Congressional delegation emerged as strong Biden supporters during his campaign.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, DN.Y., — who is waiting to hear if he might become majority leader — has had a close 30-year relationship with Biden since their days working together on criminal justice issues when Biden was in the Senate.
"The nation is facing unprecedented challenges: the greatest economic crisis in seventy-five years, the greatest public health crisis in a century, the climate crisis, and worsening income inequality and racial injustice," Schumer said Saturday. "The American people have placed their faith in president-elect Joe Biden to confront those challenges head-on to relieve their suffering, repair our democracy, recover our economy, and rebuild a country, and a planet, for this generation and the next.”
U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-amsterdam, said he had a very good relationship with Biden when he was vice president.
"(It's a relationship) that's going to offer a lot of opportunity to share the district's strengths and its needs and go forward with a sound response from Washington," Tonko said.
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R- Schuylerville, and GOP Chairman Nick Langworthy did not respond to a request for comment.
If Congress does not approve a coronavirus relief package during the final month and a half of Trump’s term, a major package to curb the virus and stimulate the economy will be the top item on Biden’s to-do list.
Biden faces the difficult task of dragging the nation out of a devastating and economic crisis — a recovery that is likely to shape his presidency. The U.S. unemployment level is similar to that of the Great Recession as the nation marches into a winter likely to exacerbate and increase coronavirus cases.
Biden’s campaign platform and “Build Back Better” motto foreshadow that the Democrat is likely to pair New Deal-style infrastructure investment with his coronavirus relief strategy to boost the American economy. In addition to transportation, those investments are likely to be linked to his climate agenda — investing in renewable energy and weatherizing federal buildings, among other measures.
“He’s going to really lean heavily on infrastructure,” said Scott Mclean, professor of political science at Quinnipiac University. “It can’t just be road repair. It’s going to be much more comprehensive than that. This is an area where he will be able to work with the Republicans and get something done.”
Klinkner warned Republicans in Congress had no interest in passing an infrastructure bill even when Trump was interested in the topic.
If something can pass, such infrastructure investments could mean more federal funding for New York roads and rail, as well as the state’s investment in green energy projects.
But there’s always the question of how to pay for it all. For New York residents concerned about their tax bill, Kyle Pomerleau, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute studying federal tax policy, said high income households in the state could see their taxes rise, even if Democrats successfully repeal the 2017 cap on state and local tax deductions now set at $10,000.
Pomerleau forecasted that Biden would increase the top rate income tax rate from 37 percent to 39.6 percent, scale back a deduction for business income given to sole proprietorships, partnerships, S corporations and raise the tax rate on capital gains and dividends to 39.6 percent for those earning more than $1 million.
With or without the Senate, Biden could roll back Trump’s changes to environmental regulations for vehicle emissions, air and water pollution, drilling, logging and more. He could re-enter the country into the Paris Climate Accord and reshape the nation’s diplomatic and trade relationships with countries like China.
To accomplish his big immigration priorities, making the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program permanent and giving a path to citizenship people living in the nation illegally, Biden would need legislation to pass the Congress. But he could make immigration changes through regulation and executive order by changes the enforcement priorities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, something that could ease pressure on sanctuary cities in New York, Mclean said.
Biden’s entire agenda will face the competing winds of the vocal progressive left in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate Republicans, Mclean said. But he predicted that the results of the 2020 election in the House, the leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-calif., in her caucus, and the looming 2022 election for some Senate Republicans will incentivize some early compromise.
“Republicans have run this playbook before in 2009,” disagreed Klinkner. “You obstruct, obstruct, obstruct... This election doesn’t change the fundamental aims of the Republican Party. Mcconnell is going to claim that voters ratified a GOP Senate and they want a GOP Senate to keep a check on a Biden administration.”
“I think we are looking at two years of pretty serious gridlock,” he predicted.