Tonko releases district scorecard marking service in 2021
WASHINGTON » Rep. Paul D. Tonko recently released his 2021 District Office scorecard, detailing just some of the extensive services delivered to constituents and communities in the Capital Region last year.
In 2021, Congressman Tonko (D-Amsterdam) helped complete thousands of individual cases for constituents and worked with his colleagues in Congress to provide substantial assistance to Capital Region families and businesses during the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“2021 brought us new hopes and opportunities even as it presented new challenges,” Tonko said.
“Though the COVID-19 crisis continues to impact our daily lives, the development and deployment of effective, lifesaving vaccines has allowed us to begin to move forward. As we work to defeat this pandemic, our nation needs dedicated public servants more urgently than ever before. I am proud to work with an incredible team of staffers who are just as passionate as I am about lifting up the Capital Region families and communities we serve. I remain grateful to the people of our region for their continued strength, resilience, and faith in the midst of a challenging year, and I am proud to be able to deliver for them each and every day.
“As we usher in a new year, I am eager to get back to Washington to continue fighting for the working families and small businesses of the Capital Region,” Tonko added.
Tonko’s scorecard lists some of his many accomplishments in 2021, including:
• Completing more than 2,100 cases for constituents on issues ranging from assistance with stimulus checks and social security to veterans affairs, immigration, and more.
• Responding to nearly 70,000 calls, emails, and letters from constituents, delivering responses on issues like the American Rescue Plan and the Build Back Better agenda.
• Delivered millions in benefits to more than 120,000 Capital Region kids through the American Rescue Plan’s extended Biden Child Tax Credit, lifting more than 5,000 kids in NY-20 out of poverty.
• Secured more than $625 million for local businesses through 9,900 loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
• Kept hundreds of local restaurants afloat with more than $70 million to the region through the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF).
• Helped secure more than $5.25 million to meet the needs of first responders and fire departments through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) programs.
Tonko’s enduring commitment to constituent service is reflected in his legislative record, with significant legislation passed in 2021 that developed from direct conversations and engagement with Capital Region communities and constituents. This includes the Congressman’s lifesaving limousine reforms, enshrined into law this year to make roads safer and to prevent another tragedy like the 2018 Schoharie limo crash that took the lives of 20 people.
He also co-authored and helped pass a bill to extend critical federal support for our National Heritage Areas (NHAs), strengthening and protecting critical economic drivers like New York’s own Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.