A group of Long Island Congress members and state senators has called on the Town of Hempstead to make the $133 million that it received through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act available to Nassau County and other municipalities.
On Friday, U.S. Reps. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City) , Gregory Meeks (D-Queens), Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), and Long Beach City Manager Donna Gayden released a statement asking that Hempstead turn over the federal funding to the county.
“We’re pleased that the Town of Hempstead has received funding through the CARES Act, but given that the County has spearheaded the response and incurred the largest share of related costs, we feel strongly that the Town’s funding should be made available to both the County as well as the Town’s municipalities, who have been most affected by this crisis,” they wrote.
Due to the population threshold of 500,000 to apply to the federal aid program, Hempstead was the only town in Nassau County to receive funding. The county received $103 million of its own in federal funding, to be used toward Nassau County police and emergency services, the Department of Health, corrections facilities and other operations. The aid does not address the towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay, which did not receive funding through the CARES Act.
Hempstead Town Supervisor Donald Clavin introduced the newly formed Town of Hempstead Economic Recovery Committee in an email on May 5, the same day the town announced its receipt of the aid. The committee “will provide much-needed financial assistance for the health, safety and economic recovery for [the] Town’s residents,” Clavin stated.
The Economic Recovery Committee announced the same day that $2 million of the funding will be distributed to temporary food banks to provide relief to food insecure families during the COVID-19 crisis.
Clavin held a Zoom conference call with village mayors last week to discuss plans for the $133 million. He said that he is in contact with Nassau County Executive Laura Curran in addition to village mayors about how to use the funds.
Rice, Meeks, Suozzi and Gayden said that the county has led the region in efforts to quell the coronavirus spread, and is in serious need of more aid.
“Over the past eight weeks, County Executive Laura Curran has worked diligently to develop, scale and coordinate a comprehensive system to respond to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak,” they said. “That includes procuring PPE for frontline workers, expanding testing capacity, and maintaining countywide EMS, Fire and Police services, and operating the County morgue and health department. And they’ve done it all while operating on a severe deficit brought on by this crisis. The situation in Nassau County remains dire — there are still countless communities across Long Island that desperately need additional resources.”
A second letter, signed by state Sens. Todd Kaminsky (D–Long Beach), John Brooks (D–Seaford), Kevin Thomas (D–Levittown) and Anna Kaplan (D–Great Neck), asked Clavin to assist Hempstead’s 22 villages, which are reporting huge losses in budget revenue.
“Village mayors are concerned that their expenditures during this period, coupled with the rising decrease in revenue, will leave them in a dire financial situation and may lead to raising taxes on the hardworking residents,” the letter said. “You have the power and the means to significantly alleviate their burden, and we would like to work with you to accomplish that goal.”
