A package of bills advanced from the Oversight Committee to a full floor vote in the House of Representatives that could provide up to $23 billion in federal aid to New York state, according to Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney.
The package also includes direct payments to families as well as $23 billion to the state government and $12.7 billion to New York City to absorb the costs of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. About $8.8 billion for transit agencies in New York was approved through a different committee.
“We have many, many bills to pay at this point, we have a desperate need for federal aid in our city and our state and this is a package that we are passing next Friday from [Congress] to the Senate will do just that,” Maloney said in Union Square on Saturday. “This bill is the embodiment of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan and it’s projected to provide over $70 billion to New York state communities, families, the city and [provide] rent relief.”
The $70 billion for New York state overall was approved through a number of committees.
But the benefits are not only for New York. According to Maloney, the entire package delivers up to $350 billion nationwide with congress expected to cast a vote on Friday. Direct to relief to Americans through this bill will amount to $1,400.
Extended unemployment supplements of $300 could be provided through the funding in these bills.
“What we’ve seen since the beginning of this pandemic is, unfortunately, a lot of temporary help, a lot of stopgap measures, Right? And while that is important and while that has been helping people survive, it really is urgent that we see meaningful comprehensive aid from every level of government,” Brooklyn state Senator Julia Salazar said
Maloney was joined in this press conference by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards who said up to 7,000 residents died while immigrant communities, especially in the northwestern section of the borough, faced considerable hardship. Elmhurst Hospital in particular shared the highest burden of any medical center in the country during the spring.
“This this package is not just about dollars. It’s about ensuring that we can keep people stable in their homes. You talk about healthcare and the impacts on our local hospitals, hospitals that were inundated at one point with so many positive cases, frontline workers who had to endure seeing bodies refrigerated outside their institutions, because we know that there are not enough beds in our system, not enough hospitals,” Richards said.
According to Maloney, this package will precede more funding in the form of infrastructure payments to aid economic recovery, but did not elaborate at this time.
Read the bill’s full text here.
