NY Coronavirus: Massive Cuts Possible For Schools, Hospitals

NEW YORK, NY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo once again called on federal lawmakers to pass legislation that will help state governments facing massive budget shortfalls due to the new coronavirus, warning that without federal funding, schools, local governments and hospitals could see across-the-board 20 percent cuts. The governor on Monday said the state has a $15 billion to $20 billion hole in revenue due to the statewide stay-at-home order.

"This is the worst time to do this," Cuomo said.

He agreed that while airlines, hotels and other major industries need money to survive the pandemic, so do public sector workers, including teachers, police, firefighters, transit workers, health care workers and nursing home staff.

The virus led to the deaths of 478 more New Yorkers Sunday, he said, noting that the number appears to be falling after peaking in the high 700s last week.

Hospitalizations, intubations and intensive care admissions all continued to decline, furthering evidence that the state's extreme social distancing measures have proven to reduce the spread of the virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease. Perhaps most telling: The number of new, daily coronavirus hospitalizations fell to about 1,380 on Sunday — down from 1,915 on Friday and a high of over 3,400 earlier in the month.

"We can control the beast," Cuomo reiterated Monday. "The beast will not destroy us. We can control the beast."

Cuomo also announced a new effort to expand testing for communities of color. The state will send 500,000 masks and 10,000 gallons of hand sanitizer to residents living in New York City Housing Authority units.

The governor also called for hazard pay for front-line workers to the tune of a 50 percent pay bonus, noting that 41 percent of them are people of color. That includes nearly half of public transit workers, 40 percent health care workers and 57 percent of building cleaning service workers.

"Thanks is nice, but also recognition of their efforts and their sacrifice is also appropriate," he said, noting that communities of color have been disproportionately affected by the virus because many live in dense areas and work in industries deemed essential.

Cuomo said a new pilot program will begin this week across New York City to expand health care and testing in public housing. Additionally, he announced the creation of the "Reimagine New York Task Force," which will explore how to improve the state's housing, transit, technology and social equality, mainly focusing on the downstate region.

"Let's use this as a moment to plan change that we could normally never do," he said.

The task force will include New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, as well as the county executives from Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester.

Cuomo stressed that despite what local school districts might say, all schools in New York remain closed until at least May 15 and will not be allowed to reopen until the state signs off on the plan. He warned that with the numbers falling and the weather warming, activity levels will likely increase, bringing people into close contact with one another.

"That contact will increase the virus spread," he said. "Watch the dial. Watch the contact spread. You’ll see it in the hospitalization rate."

Cuomo said he will announce Tuesday plans to possibly reopen upstate hospitals to elective surgeries facing budget issues. The hospitals rely on elective surgeries to fund their budgets, he said, and have seen lower vacancy totals than expected during the coronavirus outbreak.

Melissa DeRosa, Cuomo's top aide, told reporters Monday the state has reduced its unemployment application backlog from 275,000 to about 4,300. A new application process was rolled out Monday, she said, and about 3,100 state Labor Department representatives were dedicated to answering unemployment benefit needs.

Prior to the rollout, New Yorkers had to apply — and get denied — for regular unemployment insurance before applying for pandemic unemployment assistance. Under the new application, they have to fill out one form to get the correct benefits. Since the coronavirus crisis began, the state Labor Department has paid $2.2 billion in unemployment benefits to 1.1 million New Yorkers.