#Pelosi rebukes Cuomo claim that NY didn’t get enough federal aid

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shot down a claim by Gov. Cuomo that a $50 billion federal aid package for the state was insufficient.

“We sadly observe over 1.5 million coronavirus cases, nearly 45,000 deaths, and hundreds of thousands of job losses in New York,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to New York’s congressional Democrats on Thursday. “Please know that your concerns are being addressed in ways that you have advanced and with the enthusiastic advocacy of Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.”

The letter was first obtained and reported by the Albany Times Union.

In the letter Pelosi said the actual cash the Empire State was set to receive was already closer to $70 billion.

“Overall, New York state will receive over $50 billion in state and local funding, and more than $20 billion in additional funding to support families’ health, financial security and well-being,” she wrote.

The Pelosi missive was the latest in a furious bit of letter writing between the state and the speaker. On Tuesday, NY House Dems sent Pelosi a letter asking for more cash. This followed an earlier note from Cuomo to the whole state delegation last week demanding at least $15 billion more in aid.

The state bailout will be taken from Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package which is now currently working its way through Congress.

Right now the package grants New York $12.6 billion in coronavirus relief funding; $10.64 billion for local governments; $12.3 billion for schools, and $8.8 billion for the state’s perennially underfunded transit system.

The state is facing a $63 billion deficit from revenues which have plummeted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.