Local officials see value in federal COVID-19 aid package
Feb. 27—PLATTSBURGH — The latest COVID relief bill has a way of splitting the room.
Federal lawmakers have been notably divided over the America Rescue Plan Act, and, though not of the same caliber, local leaders expressed varying takes on the $1.9 trillion bill on Friday, hours before the Democratic-led House of Representatives was expected to cast their votes.
THE BILL
The America Rescue Plan Act of 2021 would become the third COVID relief bill in one year.
The package featured several provisions, including $1,400 stimulus checks for Americans, aid to small businesses and schools, funds to support local governments in vaccine dissemination, unemployment benefits and a $25 billion grant program for independent restaurants and bars.
There was also an attempt to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025, however the senate's parliamentarian exercised their power to declare that out of line with the current processes.
It was later reported that Vice President Kamala Harris had power enough to overrule that determination. Lawmakers could also try to pass the wage increase outside of the COVID relief package.
STEFANIK OPPOSED
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-Schuylerville) announced Friday afternoon that she would vote against the bill and was critical of its contents.
"Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi and President (Joe) Biden's $2 trillion partisan spending package is filled with pork projects, special interest giveaways, and the Far-Left's policy wish list," Stefanik's statement says. "It is unacceptable that less than 10 percent of the package is for public health measures, and more than half of the funding will not even be spent until 2022 or later.
"In the last Congress, I voted for multiple, bipartisan COVID relief packages to fund vaccine research, development and distribution, and support small businesses, farms and hardworking families to safely reopen our economy," it continues. "While I have long advocated for critical COVID relief funding for North Country hospitals, counties and municipalities, schools and small businesses, this bill is packed with unacceptable Far-Left priorities.
"Rather than reaching across the aisle in the spirit of bipartisanship, Speaker Pelosi and President Biden are instead forcing a highly partisan package with the majority of funding for non-COVID related programs, and then sticking American taxpayers with the $2 trillion bill."
NO. CO. SUPPORT
When the North Country Chamber of Commerce release its 2021 Annual Issue Survey results, highlighting area businesses' top issues for 2021, another COVID relief package was announced to be of the second-most priority to North Country businesses when it came to federal issues.
It placed just behind the accelerated production and delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine and tied for second place with bi-national cooperation and planning for the normalization of the U.S.-Canadian border crossing.
Garry Douglas, chamber president and CEO, said the stimulus bill, as it stood Friday, included several elements that would support North Country businesses and services.
"This includes substantial aid to state and local governments, which will hopefully prevent a number of cascading impacts that would have occurred otherwise," he told the Press-Republican.
"We also welcome additional support for our colleges, for airports and for transit agencies across the country such as the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) which are major customers of our region's transportation equipment producers."
Douglas also commented on the $25 billion grant program aimed at supporting independent restaurants and bars that had been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the chamber would "move quickly to understand and then provide guidance" on the program. Throughout the pandemic, the chamber has hosted a variety of free webinars detailing several aid programs that have been enacted since March 2020.
INFRASTRUCTURE BILL
While Plattsburgh Town Supervisor Michael Cashman saw components of infrastructure support in the America Rescue Plan Act, he said a standalone infrastructure bill was much needed, adding it could be the "backbone to strengthening our post-COVID recovery plan."
The supervisor thought the United States had "woefully underfunded and underinvested in infrastructure for too many years."
"We're talking about roads; we're talking about bridges; we're talking about electrical infrastructure," he said. "It's the whole array of infrastructure that we need."
Such legislation could bring new jobs to the North Country and tap into Plattsburgh's aerospace, transportation and manufacturing clusters, he added.
"There's a lot of value there."
MINIMUM WAGE
Though, through extensive research, he didn't believe the $15 minimum wage hike would make its way into the COVID relief bill, Cashman noted the New York State's minimum wage advancements, which had already hit $15 per hour in downstate areas.
"The gap will be smaller here in New York State than it would be elsewhere," he said. "I do believe that we need to provide working wages that do not put people in a position where they are working multiple jobs to make ends meet."
He spoke of the United Way of the Adirondack Region's ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) Project, which has highlighted how many working families, though above the federal poverty level, are one emergency away from financial ruin.
"That's real," Cashman said. "We need to be focused on ensuring people have the opportunity for living wages."
Plattsburgh City Mayor Christopher Rosenquest said he was in support of $15 per hour wages, but he noted how, the chamber's 2021 Annual Issue Survey had shown area businesses split on the minimum wage increase, with 52 percent opposed, 48 percent in support.
"Our average city resident makes on average $43,000 per year and most of us have to piece together two to three jobs," the mayor said. "This combined with housing, daycare, transportation, food and a number of other financial demands that need to be managed — an increase in the minimum wage would make a big difference in our area.
"As someone who co-owns our family business," he continued, noting Chapter One Coffee and Tea, which is located in City Well on City Hall Place, "my biggest concern for a $15 minimum wage would be how much our product pricing would need to increase to offset a wage increase.
"However, I don't believe these price increases would be prohibitive for our business success. I believe our team would be able to figure it out."
Email McKenzie Delisle:
Twitter: @McKenzieDelisle
