Gov. Cuomo to Congress: 'Do your job,' says $2.2T economic rescue fails state governments

The governor says the state's lost revenue since the COVID-19 outbreak began is $10 billion to $15 billion. "That is a ton of money for the state of New York's budget."

News 12 Staff

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Mar 26, 2020, 3:01 PM

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Updated 1,736 days ago

Gov. Cuomo to Congress: 'Do your job,' says $2.2T economic rescue fails state governments

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo scolded governmental leaders in Washington during his COVID-19 update Thursday morning, saying that the $2.2 trillion economic stimulus does not help local or state governments.

"This was the time to put politics aside and partisanship aside. This is the time for governmental leaders to stop making excuses and just do your job. Do your job," said the governor.

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He says the state is looking at a revenue loss of up to $15 billion, which is making the creation of a state budget due on April 1 challenging. Under the stimulus package, New York state is receiving $5 billion, which is earmarked for COVID-19 expenses only.

“It does absolutely nothing for us in terms of lost revenue,” says Gov. Cuomo.

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He plans to adjust down revenue projections and have periods throughout the year reflecting the actual revenue.

As of Thursday, there are 37,258 positive COVID-19 cases in the state, 5,327 hospitalizations and 1,290 ICU patients. The number of deaths increased to 385.

Notes from the news conference are below:

Gov. Cuomo says the state's goal is to have a 1,000+ overflow facility in each of the boroughs and surrounding counties.
Gov. Cuomo lauds Dr. Anthony Fauci. "He's been a friend to me, personally, and the state of New York."
Gov. Cuomo says the state is still shopping for ventilators. He also says hospitals are beginning to convert anesthesia machines to work as ventilators.
The govenor says the state's lost revenue since the COVID-19 outbreak began is $10 billion to $15 billion. "That is a ton of money for the state of New York's budget."
He says the $2.2 trillion economic stimulus package helped unemployment insurance and small businesses, "but it did not help local governments or state governments, and it did not address the governmental loss."
New York state is receiving $5 billion, "earmarked only for COVID virus expenses. It does absolutely nothing for us in terms of lost revenue."
He described the bill as reckless.
"This was the time to put politics aside and partisanship aside. This is the time for governmental leaders to stop making excuses and just do your job. Do your job."
Gov. Cuomo outlines difficulties with state budget based on a number of unknown factors. He plans to adjust down revenue projections and have periods throughout the year reflecting the actual revenue.
There have been 18,650 tests in New York. As of Wednesday, 25% of all testing has come from New York.
The number of deaths are increasing, 385 in the state. Gov. Cuomo says some patients are on ventilators for 20-30 days, and usually have bad outcomes.
There are 37,258 positive cases of COVID-19 in the state, 5,327 currently hospitalized, 1,290 ICU patients, and 1,517 patients discharged after being hospitalized.

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