LI Dems Suozzi, Rice Support Biden’s $1.9 Trillion Rescue Plan

WASHINGTON, DC — Long Island’s Democratic congressional delegation, Reps. Thomas Suozzi and Kathleen Rice, voted in favor of President Joseph Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan on Wednesday.

The measure passed the House 220-211.

The plan includes expanded unemployment benefits, $1,400 stimulus checks, and $20 billion in funding for a national coronavirus vaccine program. Included in the plan is about $23 billion in aid for New York, with about half dedicated to the state and about $10.8 million for its counties and other municipalities.

The counties of Nassau and Suffolk will receive $397 million and $286 million; the city of Glen Cove, $2.9 million; Hempstead, $84.3 million; North Hempstead, $25.3 million; Oyster Bay, $32.7 million; and Huntington, $21.6 million.

The bill will provide about $7.5 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to manage COVID-19 vaccines. It will provide $7.5 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to establish vaccination sites across the country, as well as provide $5.2 billion to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority for the research of vaccines.

The bill will also provide aid for live venues, restaurants and catering halls, as well as aid to small businesses.

Suozzi, who represents a part of the north shore along Queens and Long Island stretching to Commack, described the COVID-19 pandemic as a “once-in-hundred-year-crisis” that demanded a “big, bold solution.” He said the plan will “ignite a rapid recovery” of the country’s economy, as well as state governments, all while helping provide millions of Americans with COVID-19 vaccines.

“This historical effort led by President Biden and supported by the United States Congress will help real people who have been crushed by the virus, beat the pandemic into the ground, and ensure a rapid economic recovery,” he said. “My singular focus, throughout this entire debate, has been to deliver money to my district and our state, which was the first and hardest-hit state at the start of the pandemic. Help is on the way.”

Rice, who represents parts of the towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead, said she was “thrilled” to deliver the relief that so many people have been waiting for. She also said the plan makes “bold investments to crush the virus” and reopen the economy, and that she is relieved it will become law before supplemental unemployment benefits expire.

“This pandemic has been devastating, but there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel, and this new relief package will help us get there,” she said. “I will continue fighting in Congress to ensure Long Island has every resource it needs to build back better.”

Biden is expected to sign the bill into law.

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The island’s Republican congressional delegates — Rep. Lee Zeldin, whose district stretches from Commack to the east end, and Rep. Andrew Garbarino, whose district runs along the south shore spanning parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties — voted against the measure.

Republican National Congressional Committee spokeswoman Torunn Sinclair said the bill was passed by “vulnerable” House Democrats, naming Suozzi along with Reps. Sean Patrick Maloney and Antonio Delgado among about 45 others.

Sinclair described the bill as a “$1.9 trillion socialist boondoggle disguised as [COVID-19] relief.”

She said the bill will trigger $36 million in Medicare cuts, raises taxes on gig workers, such as Uber and Lyft drivers, and does not force schools to reopen classrooms, and that only 9 percent of the bill goes to “defeating the virus.”

Sinclair said the bill also includes $60 billion in tax hikes; $570 million for a bureaucratic bailout; $10 million for teachers unions “fighting” for school closures; and $350 billion allocated for states and local governments which “can be spent on public services for illegal immigrants."

She also said the bill includes $250,000 in “bonuses for state government bureaucrats.”

“House Democrats are forcing the American people to pay for their corrupt $1.9 trillion [COVID-19] package, which cuts Medicare, raises taxes and keeps schools closed while funding their special interests,” Sinclair said. “House Democrats will pay for their socialist giveaway when they lose re-election in 2022.”

State and local leaders praised the passage of the legislation.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the legislation “confronts the dual health and economic crises created by the war on COVID by providing much needed relief to lift New York families out of dire economic straits,” and “critical funds to expand and accelerate New York's growing vaccination efforts, and targeted relief for state and local governments.”

Metropolitan Transit Authority Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Patrick J. Foye said he was both “grateful and relieved” that the bill was passed. About $6.5 million in the package slated for the MTA will ensure the agency can provide the “service needed to lead New York’s recovery from this devastating pandemic,” he said.

“This bill will lift up the MTA, New York and the country, and we thank Senate Majority Leader [Chuck] Schumer for his tireless leadership, as well as Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and the bipartisan New York delegation for their continuing hard work and support,” he said.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran called the passage of bill “great news for all Americans” regardless of their individual political beliefs.

She said that beyond delivering “much-needed relief” to residents who are struggling to make ends meet, it provides a bold federal investment which is necessary to accelerate the distribution of vaccines, ensure that schools fully reopen, and to support struggling small businesses such as restaurants.

“I’m especially pleased that this bill funds local governments like Nassau County, especially as we continue to man the front line in our fight to defeat the virus once and for all,” she said.