Trump's 2020 Budget: What It Means For New York

NEW YORK — President Donald Trump may be a New Yorker, but officials warn his new budget is hostile to the Empire State. The Republican president unveiled a $4.75 trillion budget plan for the 2020 fiscal year on Monday that includes $2.7 trillion in spending cuts.

While it reportedly seeks $8.6 billion for a wall along the southern U.S. border, the budget slashes funds for public housing and Medicaid and includes no money for the crucial gateway project — all of which could spell disaster for New York, Democratic officials say.

"This is pure politics by this president," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a radio interview recorded Tuesday. "He's playing to his base, he's playing to the states where his base lives, he's fomenting the anger, and he's punishing places that didn't support him, and New York didn't support him. So he's been punishing us from the day he's gotten into office."

The Trump administration released the proposal less than two months after the end of a 35-day partial government shutdown over the president's demand for a border wall. And it follows a landmark Jan. 31 oversight agreement between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the New York City Housing Authority and the city.

The proposed cuts would also impact New York's law enforcement, educational programs, hospitals and medical research, Sen. Charles Schumer said.

"Now across the board, from safety and security to education and health care to infrastructure and economic development, the Trump budget would be a gut punch to New York’s middle class," Schumer said Tuesday. "The same is true for the nation."

Here's a look at how the plan could impact New York.

No Love For NYCHA

On the day he and Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the agreement increasing federal oversight of the city's public housing authority, HUD Secretary Ben Carson said his agency was "presenting NYCHA residents with bold new solutions for decades-old problems."

But Trump's new budget proposes cutting more than $8.6 billion from HUD — which provides the bulk of NYCHA's budget — including about $4.5 billion in cuts from public housing funds.

That's on top of the fact that the oversight deal required no significant new money from HUD while forcing the city to commit $2.2 billion in capital funds to NYCHA over the next decade.

"It would be ironic on its face as it is, but it’s worse because he’s from New York City," de Blasio said Monday. "And he’s hurting the housing authority of his hometown and the people who live in it. So this is just hypocrisy of the highest order."

HUD's proposed budget would eliminate the $2.75 billion Public Housing Capital Fund and fold it into the Public Housing Operating Fund, which would see its total funding slashed from about $4.5 billion to roughly $2.9 billion.

HUD says money from the new operating fund could be used for capital needs, which would give local public housing agencies more flexibility. The budget would also add $100 million for the Rental Assistance Demonstration program allowing housing authorities to leverage private funds for repairs, which the city has decided to use for thousands of apartments.

But the cuts to dedicated capital funds could be bad news for NYCHA, which has a nearly $32 billion to-do list of capital projects over five years. The Trump administration has also proposed hiking public housing tenants' rents to 35 percent of their gross income from 30 percent of their adjusted income, according to the city.

Medicare, Medicaid Spending Slashed Despite Trump Promise

Trump's budget would also cut $845 billion in Medicare spending and almost $1.5 trillion in Medicaid spending over the next 10 years, according to The Washington Post.

The Medicaid cuts in particular could hurt 6.5 million New Yorkers who rely on the program providing health care to those who can't afford it, Schumer said.

Schumer, the Senate's Democratic leader, pointed out that Trump promised not to cut Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security when he was running for president.

"I understand the challenges of the office sometimes prevent presidents from achieving precisely what they campaigned on, but this is literally the opposite of what Donald Trump said in his campaign," Schumer said.

The budget would also cut $4.5 billion in spending for the National Institutes of Health, the Post reported. That would "devastate" the New York's hospitals, particularly those in rural areas, and impact medical research, Schumer said.

Gateway Left In Limbo

Trump's budget allocates no money for the Gateway project to repair and replace critical rail tunnels underneath the Hudson River. The century-old tunnels service all Amtrak and NJ Transit passenger trains between New Jersey and Penn Station.

Cuomo has said Trump was "receptive" to fixing the tunnels at a November meeting. But on Monday the governor called the funding snub "political posturing."

"Laughably, they claim that funding the Gateway project is the sole responsibility of local officials - even though Amtrak owns the tunnel. These ridiculous claims should not be taken seriously," Cuomo said in a statement. "What should be taken seriously, however, are the consequences if we don't move forward on the project expeditiously."

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the day of the week of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's radio interview. It was Tuesday, not Monday.

Patch editor Brendan Krisel contributed to this report.