#State lawmakers blast de Blasio’s bid for $5 billion in borrowing

Top state lawmakers blasted Mayor de Blasio on Monday for badly misplaying his hand in Albany as they nixed City Hall’s bid to borrow as much as $5 billion over the next two years to help paper-over coronavirus budget deficits.

“For the past few weeks, we asked Mayor de Blasio to address legitimate concerns held by our Senators. He did not even attempt to do so until the last few days and many of those concerns still remain,” said the top spokesman for state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester) in an extraordinary rebuke.

The representative, Mike Murphy, added: “The Senate wants a plan that puts New York City on a responsible path without burdening our ability to further the recovery in future years.”

A local lawmaker was even more blunt.

“It wasn’t a plan, but merely an ask that wasn’t backed by sound rationale, and now obviated given the budget deal with the Council,” said state Sen. John Liu (D-Queens), a former city Comptroller and de Blasio rival in the 2013 mayoral election.

The Senate Democrats also met on Monday with city Comptroller Scott Stringer, who has refused to give de Blasio’s his blessing for the big borrowing.

“Our children do not owe the Mayor a blank check,” he said in a statement. “Borrowing for operating expenses should be considered only when the need is clear.”

The Albany cold shoulder to de Blasio also extended to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, even though lawmakers approved his own bid for loans to help cover budget shortfalls in the state’s budget.

“It’s a state responsibility ultimately if it goes bad,” Cuomo told reporters. “How do you pay it back and when do you pay it back and what do you think the revenues are going to be this year and what do you think the revenues are going to be next year? And how fast do you think business activity is going to increase?

Under the proposal outlined by City Hall, de Blasio wanted permission to issue up to $3 billion in debt for the 2021 budget and $2 billion for the 2022 budget as a way to avoid making deeper budget cuts. De Blasio’s ask for $5 billion in debt came after his first request for $7 billion ran aground over similar concerns.

“It’s dead for now until we can get a sense from the city a better sense as to what they need,” said one Albany source.

“One of the biggest issues is there hasn’t been unanimity, on the City Council side, the mayor, the comptroller,” the person added. “There was no consensus from anyone.”

The administration and City Council are set to cut spending to $87 billion as they attempt to fill a $9 billion budget shortfall caused by the massive drop off in tax revenues following the economic shutdown to contain COVID-19. The deadline to pass a budget is Tuesday.

City Hall floated the possibility of slashing as many as 22,000 municipal jobs as one potential way to cut labor costs by up to $1 billion as de Blasio first sought the borrowing authority. Hizzoner reiterated the threat again Monday during his daily conference call with reporters, where he said he was “disappointed” the state Senate had rebuffed him again.

“Austerity is never the way to go, we have to continue to find a way forward,” de Blasio added. “At some point, if Washington doesn’t act, if Albany doesn’t act, we end up in a very tough situation.”