Press release:
From the three passed Congressional bills in response to the coronavirus emergency, and the FEMA Major Disaster Declaration, which was aggressively advocated for by Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York State and state-funded agencies have already received, or will soon receive, at least $15.9 billion in direct federal aid.
New York can and should put these funds to work to fight the coronavirus public health emergency and to address its budget challenges.
CARES ACT/Coronavirus 3: $10.2 Billion
- State Relief Fund: $5.1B
- MTA: $3.8B
Education funding going directly to NYS:
- Education Stabilization Fund: $1.16B
- Child Care Community Grants: $162.4M
Coronavirus 2 Families First Legislation:
- FMAP: $5.2B ($6.7B in aid shared with NYC/counties that pay a share of Medicaid)
FEMA Disaster Declaration: $426 million
- New York State has obligated $426 million from the Disaster Relief Fund for COVID-19. Congress just appropriated $45 billion in new dollars for the DRF which will ensure that New York State gets billions in FEMA reimbursement for COVID-19.
TOTAL IN MARCH: $15.9B
$5.1 billion in state and local aid via State Relief Fund
Despite strong opposition from Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who pushed for no state & local aid, Sen. Schumer secured substantial support for New York and its largest municipalities. The CARES Act provides $7.5 billion in aid to New York governments, including $5.2 billion to the state, $1.5 billion to New York City, and proportional amounts to the largest counties. Secretary Mnuchin, on a 3/26 call with the nation’s governors, pledged to give maximum flexibility on the implementation of this legislation, and to allow for a broad range of expenses and rapid deployment of funds to states in need.
$3.8 billion to the MTA
The MTA is primarily funded via New York’s budget. Schumer fought massive GOP opposition to secure $25 billion in Federal Transit Administration formula funds and maximized New York’s share.
$5.2 billion in Emergency FMAP aid
On March 14, Congress passed the second coronavirus response legislation, which provided $6.7 billion in Emergency FMAP aid to New York State ($5.2 billion) and the counties and NYC ($1.5 billion), which share the Medicaid payment burden. The federal share of Medicaid payment was increased to 56.2 percent. There is no legal or procedural barrier to New York accepting these funds.
$1.16 billion in the Education Stabilization Fund and $162.4 million in Child Care Grants
These two streams of funding address critical needs at the state and local level. The Education Stabilization Fund includes primary, secondary and university levels.
MORE ON FMAP
As part of the Coronavirus 2/Families First legislation, House Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi included a “Maintenance of Effort” (MOE) provision to guard against (mainly Republican) states that are hostile to Medicaid from receiving billions in aid and then cutting the Medicaid program.
The Cuomo administration has indicated it wishes to cut costs in its Medicaid program next year and has made a number of cost-cutting proposals via its Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT), which must be approved, rejected or altered by the legislature in the budget.
Some of the MRT proposals, like provider cuts, do not run afoul of the MOE, others, like program cuts, may run afoul of it. It is important to note that New York has indicated it is voluntarily delaying the potential provider cuts.
To guarantee receiving the $5.2 billion in FMAP funds now, it could also choose to delay the proposed program cuts, until the eFMAP funds are dispersed, as part of the pending budget.
ADDITIONAL WAYS THE CARES ACT WILL HELP NEW YORK MEET FINANCIAL CHALLENGES
States Access to Treasury Lending: As part of the $450 billion that we have authorized for use by the Treasury to inject capital into our system and provide needed liquidity to many different industries, we insisted that one such vehicle specifically provide liquidity to state and local governments. The Secretary committed to including an explicit reference to the importance of such a facility in the text of the bill.
The bill states that the Secretary shall “seek the implementation of a program or facility… that provides liquidity to the financial system that supports lending to States and municipalities.” Therefore, we believe that the Fed is likely to establish a facility in which market participants that will provide lending to states and municipalities at low-rates and generous terms. The establishment of this facility will provide states with access to much needed capital and serve as another resource for them to help stabilize their budgets and unforeseen needs.
FEMA: New York State has obligated $426 million from the Disaster Relief Fund for COVID-19. C-3 just appropriated $45 billion in new dollars for the DRF which will ensure that New York State gets billions in reimbursement for COVID-19.
FEMA eligible expenses (partial):
- Management, control and reduction of immediate threats to public health and safety
- Emergency medical care
- Movement of supplies and persons
- Security and law enforcement
- Communications of general health and safety information to the public
- Search and rescue to locate and recover members of the population requiring assistance
