GOVERNOR’S BRIEFING/Tuesday, May 12
Block COVID-19
Business Bailouts,
Cuomo Declares
ALBANY – Governor Cuomo today announced some members of New York’s Congressional Delegation will propose the “Americans First Law” to help prevent corporate bailouts following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cuomo did not list Otsego County’s congressman, Antonio Delgado, D-19, among the representatives supporting the legislation.
First proposed by Cuomo on May 10, the law states that a corporation cannot be eligible to receive government funding if it doesn’t maintain the same number of employees that the corporation had before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cuomo also issued a joint statement with Maryland Governor Hogan, chairman of the National Association of Governors, renewing the NGA’s bipartisan call for unrestricted fiscal support for states in the next federal COVID-19 relief bill.
The governor said the next bill should focus on funding state and local governments, working families, state testing and tracing efforts and a real economic stimulus with no handouts to corporations who do not protect their workers and only enrich executives or shareholders.
“Cuomo did not list Otsego County’s congressman, Antonio Delgado, D-19, among the representatives supporting the legislation.”….. sounds like a good follow-up article to me!
I think a better follow-up article would involve asking Gov. Cuomo how in the Sam Hill the businesses HE closed can employ the same number of employees (the condition Gov. C wants on any funds loaned/granted to businesses) as were employed pre-COVID when customers don’t have the money (yet) to BUY whatever it is the businesses are MAKING or SELLING. Who does he think is going to buy the goods/services being made/offered? The Tooth Fairy? If the money is being used for wages, it isn’t being used to benefit shareholders directly. They benefit only if the business earns a profit. This is just more simple-minded pandering in an effort to distract voters to forget his inaction, tardy action and meat-cleaver approach to addressing the COVID.
My recollection is that the federal governmental funding is required to be used for WAGES. The last time I checked, wages are earned by working people. And working people buy things and services. Offering it to businesses is the best way to create a long-term solution for what will be a long-term problem of getting the economy back to its pre-COVID level. The stop-gap funding of enhancing unemployment compensation was generally a good idea has been done. Let’s fund the long-term solution for what may be a long-term haul.
Gov Cuomo was talking about Corporate when he said they had to have same number of employees not the small guy