© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
An update has been released for the Android version of the WAMC App that addresses performance issues. Please check the Google Play Store to download and update to the latest version.

Cuomo Conducts Business As Usual As Impeachment Calls Grow

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaking at the Javits Center March 8, 2021.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/governorandrewcuomo/51017078432/
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaking at the Javits Center March 8, 2021.

The federal pandemic relief package moving through Congress will go a long way toward filling New York’s multi-billion dollar budget deficit. But Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state legislature will still need to plug a smaller gap. But, getting there could be tricky, with the Democratic governor embroiled in two scandals, the Democratic leader of the state Senate calling for his resignation, and Republicans pushing for impeachment.  If the relief package is approved, New York State would receive around $12.5 billion to help fill what Cuomo says is a $15 billion budget gap for this year and the next fiscal year. More than half of that deficit was caused by revenue declines and additional spending because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit the state hard last spring.  

New York Senator and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says New York City would receive $6 billion to help in its economic recovery from the pandemic. Other local governments around the state would get $4.9 billion and $9 billion would go to schools. 

Cuomo speaking in a conference call with reporters on Sunday, says there are still “tremendous needs” created by the pandemic, like assistance in paying for rent, and day care, and additional unemployment benefits. He says new taxes will still have to be part of the discussion.

“What are the smartest and best ways to raise revenue?” Cuomo asked. “You can raise revenue in ways that actually cost the state revenue.”

Cuomo’s plan would add a new, higher income tax bracket for New Yorkers making over $5 million a year. The wealthy would have the option of prepaying their taxes for the next two years at the 2020 rates.  

But the governor has also said he worries that raising taxes on the wealthy will cause millionaires and billionaires to move to another state. 

More than 100 Democrats in the state legislature want a more expansive plan that includes additional, higher income tax brackets. Others back a higher inheritance tax, reinstating the stock transfer tax, and imposing a pied-à-terre tax on second home luxury apartments in New York City. They argue that the federal relief package is a onetime infusion of cash, and more money will be needed to balance future budgets when the bail out funds run out.

The relief money could make it easier for Cuomo and the legislature to come up with a new budget by the March 31 deadline. But negotiations could be hampered because relations between the governor and the legislature are at an all-time low. State Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins is calling on Cuomo to resign, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is urging the governor to seriously think about stepping down.

Cuomo is embroiled in two scandals, one involving five women who have come forward with accusations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior, another over his administration’s withholding of the true number of New Yorkers who died of COVID in nursing homes. The state’s Attorney General is investigating the sexual harassment charges, and there’s a federal investigation into the nursing home controversy.

Also, the Albany Times Union reported that Cuomo’s signature bridge building project over the Hudson River might have serious structural problems that were covered up. The Mario M. Cuomo Bridge replaced the former Tappan Zee Bridge.

But Cuomo, on the conference call, said that there’s “no way” that he will resign.

On Monday, he tried to show that he was carrying on with business as usual, with a visit to a state vaccination site at the Javits Center on Manhattan’s West Side, where he held an event with African American leaders to promote the vaccines.

“There is a hesitancy problem in the Black community,” Cuomo said. “Call it what it is. It’s a lack of trust.”  

The event was closed to the news media and the governor did not take any questions afterward.

Meanwhile, Republicans, who are in the minority in the legislature, announced plans to circulate an impeachment resolution among members. Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay says it’s the first step in holding impeachment proceedings in his house. A few Democrats have expressed support, but the Democratic leadership in each house so far has not. Barclay says it would be in Democrats’ interest to back the impeachment resolution. He says otherwise, with all of the tensions over the scandals, it’s going to be tough for them to work productively with Cuomo.

“This really has to be bi partisan effort, are they going to continue to deal  with that amount of members in both houses calling for his resignation, some calling for his impeachment,” Barclay said. “How are they going to govern?”  

The governor has asked lawmakers and the public to wait until the results of the Attorney General’s investigation into the harassment allegations are known. But Barclay and others say waiting is a luxury that the state can no longer afford.

Karen DeWitt is Capitol Bureau chief for New York State Public Radio, a network of public radio stations in New York state. She has covered state government and politics for the network since 1990.
Related Content