Officials from Nassau County joined U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) in a call for action to provide municipalities with federal aid in response to the coronavirus pandemic that has devastated the economy.
Suozzi was joined by Nassau County Executive and fellow Democrat Laura Curran, Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth, and North Hempstead Councilwoman Veronica Lurvey on Wednesday.
U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone also participated in the bipartisan effort to pass legislation that will provide federal aid to states, counties, localities and schools due to the budgetary shortfalls caused by the pandemic.
“It has been two months since the House passed legislation, which would bring billions in local aid to our state, counties, towns, cities, villages and school districts,” Suozzi said. “As demonstrated by the bipartisan group of elected officials here today, every local municipality needs Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans to negotiate a deal and pass the Heroes Act.”
“The alarm bells are ringing loudly for the Senate to act immediately,” Curran said. “Nassau County is ready to emerge from the pandemic stronger than before but requires the hands of all our partners on the federal level.”
The news conference was held exactly two months after the House of Representatives passed the Heroes Act, which includes a special fund of $49 billion provided to states based on a “rate of infection.” Suozzi said he estimates the legislation would generate between $10 billion to $12 billion for New York residents.
“New York state would get about $22 billion overall based on population and unemployment rates, but $12 billion is just from this special fund for $49 billion that I helped to advocate for,” Suozzi said in a May interview with Blank Slate Media.
Additionally, the act would eliminate the cap on the federal tax deduction for state and local taxes, which Suozzi and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) advocated for last Tuesday.
“When it comes to SALT, if you think Long Islanders needed and deserved this money before the coronavirus took hold, the stakes are even higher now because the cap is costing this community tens of thousands of dollars they could be using amid the crisis,” Schumer said.
The Restoring Tax Fairness for States and Localities Act, sponsored by Suozzi, would increase the tax deduction for state and local taxes in 2019 to $20,000 for individuals filing a joint tax return if the adjusted gross income of the taxpayer does not exceed $100 million.
The act would also eliminate the current $10,000 cap on the deduction in 2020 and 2021 except for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income exceeds $100 million.
Also featured in the Heroes Act is $87.5 billion allocated towards municipalities with more than 500,000 residents and $37.5 billion for municipalities with less than 50,000 residents.
Bosworth thanked Suozzi for his efforts in obtaining federal funding for municipalities.
“The pandemic is unfortunately far from over and receiving federal funding will go a long way in helping local governments recover faster,” Bosworth said.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has presented local municipalities with a variety of financial challenges that we are all currently navigating through,” Lurvey said. “It is imperative that the federal government step up and recognize that financial aid will be necessary to allow local municipalities to continue to provide vital services for our residents.”
