Mar 11

Mar 11 NY-22 Minute: Tenney explains vote against popular COVID relief bill allocating over $150 million directly to NY-22 localities By Luke Perry

Today President Biden signed the “American Rescue Plan” COVID relief bill. Representative Claudia Tenney voted against the bill in a party-line House vote.

Tenney told Talk of the Town (WUTQ in Utica) that supporting a valuable but imperfect bill, like many Republican governors have, was unacceptable because this was “the largest spending bill in U.S. history” and “every COVID relief bill under President Trump was bipartisan.”

Tenney, sworn in last month after a 109 vote victory over incumbent Anthony Brindisi, described the bill as “a Democratic wish list.”

“I want relief to go to people in our communities who desperately need it,” Tenney said. Tenney claimed just 9 percent is allocated to directly addressing COVID and expressed concern about inflation.

Millions of federal dollars were allocated directly to Central New York cities, including Syracuse ($126 million), Utica ($63 million), and Rome ($25 million). Every county in NY-22 will receive federal funding, totaling $157 million.

Direct Funding to NY-22 Counties

Oneida County: $44.3 million

Broome County: $36.9 million

Oswego County: $22.7 million

Madison County: $13.7 million

Herkimer County: $11.8

Tioga County: $9.3 million

Cortland County: $9.2 million

Chenango County: $9.1 million

On top of this, the American Rescue Plan included billions of dollars in aid to New Yorkers at large, including increased funding for small businesses, direct payments, unemployment relief, education, childcare, healthcare, transportation, and broadband connectivity.

The bill is also a significant piece of legislation in addressing child poverty, cutting America’s 11 percent child poverty rate by one-third this year, and potentially in half overall.

Funds for New York

State and Local Fiscal Relief for New York: $23.8 Billion

Medicaid FMAP Increase: $2.7 Billion

Transit Agency Funding: $7 Billion

Airport Funding: $418 Million

Amtrak Relief: $1.7 Billion

Airline Payroll Support Program Enhancement: $15 Billion

K-12 and Higher Education Funding: $11.9 Billion

Child Care and Help for NY Families: $5.3 Billion

Enhanced Unemployment Benefits for NYers: $21.7 Billion

Direct Payments to NYers: $22 Billion

New Covid-19 Vaccine Procurement and Testing: $4 Billion

Small Business, Restaurant, and Live Venue Relief: $57.8 Billion

Broadband Connectivity: $632 Million

(Source: Local Syr.com)

The American Rescue Plan is very popular nationally with 70 percent support and just 28 percent opposition. When asked about this, Tenney said “I don’t think most of the people know what’s really in it” because different television news programs provide different information.

Tenney believes the bill will produce “great stimulus going into the market,” but unemployment is going down and the economy is doing better, so this is not needed in an “excessive” amount.