‘Help is on the way’
Chuck: $1.9T stim best deal since New Deal
Calling it the biggest package to lift Americans out of poverty since the New Deal, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill passed by the Senate on Saturday would quickly put New York on a road to recovery.
The House of Representatives on Tuesday is scheduled to vote on the legislation, which would give $1,400 stimulus checks to people earning no more than $75,000 a year, $2,800 checks for couples earning up to $150,000 a year — and pump billions in crucial relief for the city and state.
“This crisis has affected just about every aspect of New York life,” Schumer, the Senate majority leader, said at a Midtown news conference Sunday. “A robust basket of $100 billion is heading New York’s way, and it will help just about every New Yorker.
“I say to beleaguered New Yorkers: Help is on the way.”
The legislation provides roughly $6.1 billion in relief for New York City, and $12.5 billion for the state.
“That’s even more than each the mayor and governor have asked for,” Schumer said.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority — which has entered a financial crisis due to decreased mass transit usage during the pandemic — is set to get roughly $6.5 billion from the relief bill, which Schumer said should be enough to prevent any cuts in subway, bus or commuter railroad service.
The transit agency received roughly $8 billion in COVID-19 relief through two bills passed by Congress in 2020 — and officials requested another $8 billion on top of that to keep the MTA’s books balanced through 2024. Schumer said he’ll get the MTA all the money it needs in future legislation.
The legislation also continues to give unemployed people an extra $300 per week, extending the benefit through Sept. 6 after it was scheduled to expire next week.
The package includes roughly $9 billion in aid for New York school districts — and provides $28.6 billion in Small Business Administration grants for restaurants impacted by the pandemic, a pool of money business owners nationwide can apply for.
“Nationally, this is the most robust relief package in terms of getting people out of poverty that we’ve seen since the New Deal,” said Schumer, referring to the series of reforms pushed by President Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression that were credited with stabilizing the U.S. economy by setting up a nationwide public works program and establishing Social Security.
No Republican senators voted for the stimulus bill, tightening negotiations in an evenly divided Senate where Vice President Kamala Harris holds the tiebreaking vote.
“This bill is bipartisan in that a majority of Republican citizens support it,” said Schumer. “The Republican senators all voted no; I think they don’t understand the needs of the country. Hopefully, now that they’ve seen we can do it without them they’ll join and do it with us.”
Schumer said his attention now turns to an infrastructure bill to “get the economy growing” and “make our subways brand spanking new.”