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The BALCONY
Bulletin
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Finding
Common Ground Between
New York Business
and
Labor |
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March 5,
2009
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Impact of the 2009 Stimulus Package
on New York State
The American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009 will
have considerable impact on New York's state and local
budgets, health care, infrastructure, education. It will
create an estimated 215,000 jobs, provide increased funding
for unemployment benefits, food stamps, energy, environment,
transportation, housing, and public safety. There is
considerable commentary regarding the President's Stimulus Package
and BALCONY, the Business
and Labor Coalition of
New York,
is
providing reactions by New York's key government
officials and BALCONY
members. BALCONY
also presents a
selected portion of Governor Paterson's table which breaks down how the New York stimulus monies
will be allocated, program by program. BALCONY
is especially pleased that several
of its core issues - infrastructure improvement and maintenance, education, health
care, and the transition to affordable alternative energy
sources - are prominent. BALCONY
will continue to archive the
reactions of state and national leaders as well as those of
its own members as they are made available. Visit
the BALCONY
website www.balconynewyork.com for additional
responses and analyses in the weeks
ahead. | |
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What does
the Stimulus Package Mean
for New York
State? |
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(Information from "Governor Patterson Press
Release on ARRP Impact on New York
State" )
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President Obama
Signs Economic Stimulus Plan
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$787,000,000,000
President Obama
signed the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 into
law at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
* Tax Relief - includes $15 B for
Infrastructure and Science, $61 B for Protecting the
Vulnerable, $25 B for Education and Training and $22 B
for Energy, so total funds are $126 B for Infrastructure
and Science, $142 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $78 B
for Education and Training, and $65 B for
Energy.
State and Local Fiscal Relief -
Prevents state and local cuts to health and education
programs and state and local tax
increases.
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Visit the
Official
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The American Recovery and
Reinvestment Actwill be carried out
with full transparency and accountability -- and Recovery.gov is the centerpiece of that
effort. In a short video,
President Obama describes the site and talks about how
you'll be able to track the Recovery Act's progress
every step of the
way.
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| We're All in This Together:
Federal, State, and Local Governments All Have a Part to
Play in the Economic Recovery |
Fiscal Policy Institute's
Frank Mauro and James Parrott wrote an
article for The Journal
of County Administration, December 2008/February
2009. The article, We're All in
This Together: Federal, State, and Local Governments All
Have a Part to Play in the Economic Recovery,
stresses that while the $787 billion American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act provides a significant lifeline to
the states at a critical point in time, it will not
completely eliminate the need for some painful budget
balancing actions by state and local governments. The
key challenge for the states is finding the mix of
spending cuts and/or tax increases that will do the
least harm to the state's economy. Click here to
visit the Fiscal Policy
Institute's website.
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Is Washington Really Going to Change?
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In early February 2009,
Gotham Research Group conducted its first
post-inauguration survey of key opinion makers in
Washington, D.C. on the prospects for change under the
Obama Administration. BALCONY is pleased to
provide that presentation, "Is Washington Really Going
to Change?" which reflects the research findings and not
the opinions of Gotham Research
Group.
Click here: Change
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BALCONY 2008-2009
Members
Directory
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Our new eBook presents
the
BALCONY Members
Directory
in an exciting
format!
Take the
Virtual Tour!
Click on the image
to
access the directory.
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BALCONY AT WORK FOR NEW YORK
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Co-Chairmen
Bruce Ventimiglia
Alan Lubin
Chariman,
Executive VP,
NYSUT
Saratoga Capital
Management
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| Call, Write or
Email BALCONY |
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Contact: Lou
Gordon - BALCONY Director
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BALCONY, the Business and Labor Coalition
of New York, represents more than 1,000 New York
businesses, labor unions, and trade associations.
BALCONY seeks common ground in the public policy debate
in New York to spur economic development through the
adoption of business/union friendly, socially
responsible common sense laws that maintain and improve
the quality of life for working New
Yorkers.
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Open this e-Mail in
Browser |
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e-mail broadcast produced by Kevin R.
Weaver | |
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New York Governor
David
Paterson:
The American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009 was signed by President Barack Obama on
February 17, 2009. This legislation provides a nearly
$800 billion boost to the American Economy.
Approximately $374 billion is for programs that directly
impact our State and New York is expected to receive
$24.6 billion of that funding. The programs include
funding for Medicaid, Education, Infrastructure and
"shovel-ready" projects throughout New York
State. Click here for additional information
about New York's
Guide to the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act.
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United States Senator
Kirsten
Gillibrand: New York
State's recently-appointed U. S. Senator, Kirsten
Gillibrand, voted in favor of the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act, stating, "This legislation is vital to
the revitalization of our nation's economy, and a
critical investment in the future of New York. The
investments in infrastructure and alternative energy
development will create jobs and build a foundation for
long-term economic growth in our state." To
read Senator Gillibrand's entire press release,
click here: Gillibrand
New York State Comptroller
Thomas
DiNapoli: New York State
Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli made a clear distinction
between the federal stimulus program and a bailout to
stabilize the state's fiscal crisis. Careful
long-term planning is the only solution to the state's
fiscal woes, DiNapoli believes. The State
Comptroller's Office has created a website to track all
state expenditures (www.openbooknewyork.com), similar to
what President Obama has established for the federal
stimulus dispersals. For the complete press release,
click here: DiNapoli
Please join Comptroller DiNapoli for a Labor
Briefing and Discussion in New York City on Friday,
March 6, 2009. Click here for details: Invite~ ~ ~ ~ ~
New York City Comptroller
William C.
Thompson, Jr.: New York City
Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., while applauding
the federal stimulus package as it pertains to New York
City, also warns that the monies must not be frittered
away or manipulated. For his complete statement,
click here: Thompson
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New York City
Mayor
Michael Bloomberg: New
York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned that the more
the delay on dispersal of the federal stimulus monies,
the less effective they will be. For his full
statement, click here: Bloomberg |
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Impact of the
Stimulus on
New York
Education
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United
States Senator
Charles
E. Schumer:
Estimated
Breakdown of Education Stimulus by School District
released by U.S. Senator Schumer
With Upstate New York school districts facing
historic budget deficits as the national economy
continues to decline, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer
announced the school district by school district
breakdown of the nearly $1.7 billion in direct education
funding New York schools will receive from the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Schumer said that the
Obama economic recovery package will also send $3.03
billion to New York State for an education stabilization
fund to restore proposed state cuts to education.
Schumer said this stabilization funding will restore
nearly all of New York's education cuts this year, while
direct-to-school aid will boost local school districts
with the funds they need as they face historic budget
gaps. Read the report: Schumer
Congressman
George
Miller:
Congressman George Miller,
Chairman of House
Committee on Education and Labor, released a
report on the ARRA distribution of funds in New York
State by school district. The Congressional
Research Service prepared this document
which estimates the amount of education funding that
each state will receive from certain aspects of the
final ARRA. Specifically, this document estimates what
New York State would receive under the bill's following
program allocations: State Stabilization Funds, Title I,
Title I School Improvement, IDEA, McKinney-Vento
Homeless Education Assistance, Education Technology, and
Child Care and Development Block Grant Discretionary
Funding. These
are estimates only based on available and current data
and may not reflect exact allocations that states or
school districts receive when these funds are actually
allocated.
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Impact of the Stimulus
on
New York
Health Care
According to Frank Mauro
of the Fiscal
Policy Institute, the
largest source of budget balancing aid for New York
State will come as part of an increase in the
federal share of Medicaid costs (called the Federal
Medicaid Assistance Percentage or FMAP) for the 27-month
period from October, 2008 through December 31,
2010. In states like New York, where local
governments are responsible for some portion of the
non-federal share of Medicaid costs, the legislation
includes a requirement that will result in part of New
York's FMAP savings being shared with the
state's local social services districts (i.e., NYC
and the counties outside NYC). According to a paper on the
FMAP portion of the final legislation, the
Center on Budget and Policies Priorities indicates that
"States that require local governments to finance a
portion of the state's share of the cost of Medicaid
would be prohibited from raising the effective
proportion paid by local governments compared to the
levels prior to any temporary FMAP
increase."
Last
month, the Governor's Budget
Director, Laura
Anglin, said that her staff was
still working with the Department of Health to determine
the FMAP savings that would go to each of the local
social services districts. In 2003, when the
federal government last implemented a temporary
increase in the federal share of Medicaid
costs, the allocation of the savings between the
state itself and the local social services districts was
relatively straightforward since, at that
time, the non-federal share of Medicaid costs
was then divided between the state and the local
districts on the basis of several formulas. This
time, the division of the FMAP savings between the
state and the local districts will be more
complicated because of the cap on the growth of the
local contribution which was enacted in 2005 and which
has been in force since then.
According
to Peter
Slocum of the American Cancer
Society, funding for New York Health
Care Component of the Stimulus for Prevention and
Wellness is being developed by the Centers for Disease
Control.
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Impact of the Stimulus
on
New York
Infrastructure
The General
Contractors Association of New York reported
that New York will receive about $2.774
billion from the ARRA for highway, bridge,
transit and clean water infrastructure projects.
The total recovery package is $789 billion with
approximately $48.1 billion of that in new spending for
transportation programs. In most cases
transportation programs received the lower of the House
and Senate funding levels with the exception of high
speed rail, which received a huge last minute boost
during the conference deliberations. Click here to
read the full story.
Governor Paterson Announces the
Establishment of State Cabinet to Oversee Distribution
of Economic Recovery Funds Across New
York
Governor David A. Paterson
announced the creation of the New York State Economic
Recovery and Reinvestment Cabinet to manage the
development of State and local infrastructure projects
financed through the federal American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act. The cabinet will be composed of State
agency heads and senior staff from the governor's
office. Timothy J. Gilchrist will serve as Senior
Advisor for Infrastructure and Transportation, a
position created to lead the cabinet. For more
information, click here: Econ-Development
Impact of the Stimulus
on
Energy &
Environment
Apollo
Alliance:
"In signing the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act today, President Barack Obama
ensured that nearly $116 billion will be spent over the
next two years on developing clean fuels, modernizing
rail transit, pursuing energy efficiency, developing
high-mileage electric vehicles, and scaling up
electrical generating stations powered by the wind, sun,
and heat of the earth." "The magnitude of
the clean energy investment [indicates] a new national
economic development strategy that is based on much
different priorities than those that preceded it."
For the full Apollo Alliance analysis, click here: Apollo
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