How $2.1 billion for undocumented immigrants landed in the state budget

[IceWizard]

Assembly members vote on the new state budget deal at the
Capitol on Wednesday, April 7, 2021 in Albany, N.Y. A three-way
deal was reached between the Senate, Assembly and governor
on how to spend $212 billion of public money for next year.
(Lori Van Buren/Times Union)Lori Van Buren/Albany Times Union






How $2.1 billion for undocumented immigrants
landed in the state budget


Edward McKinley
April 7, 2021
Updated: April 8, 2021 12:46 p.m.



ALBANY
—
The most contentious and late-breaking policy debate within this week's $217
billion state budget deal is a $2.1 billion "excluded workers" fund designed
to provide cash payments to undocumented immigrants who were ineligible
for other federal and state benefits such as unemployment insurance or
stimulus checks.

The policy — the first of its kind and scope in the nation — was sponsored in
the Senate by Sen. Jessica Ramos, a Queens Democrat.

It creates a two-tiered system of direct cash payments for workers ineligible for
previous state or federal relief — including undocumented immigrants — who are
able to provide proof of their New York residency, identity and loss of income.
Depending on their lost income, they could receive a payment ranging from
$3,000 to $15,600. The program was the subject of a large advocacy push that
included coordinated rallies across the state and a hunger strike in Manhattan
that ended Wednesday morning.

Although the policy was included in the budgets proposed in the Assembly and
Senate last month, it seemed to take political observers and even some lawmakers
by surprise when it became clear that there was serious momentum to include
the measure in the budget.

The surprise led to a split in the Democratic Party, with state Sen. Gustavo Rivera,
chair of the Health Committee, threatening to impede bills from members of the
Assembly who did not support the excluded workers fund while state party
Chair Jay Jacobs issued a statement decrying supporters of the bill who labeled
critics as racist.

“The reality is we can show the fund for excluded workers is going to bring millions
of dollars for key communities," Ramos said. She questioned where the opponents
of the bill were when it was time to debate the matter on the Senate floor.
“As a senator, when I’m really concerned about things, I drill down on anybody,
especially when it affects my community.”

Murad Awawdeh, co-director of the New York Immigration Coalition, a leading group
in the advocacy effort for the bill, said he was surprised by the suddenness of the opposition.

“It becoming an issue last week for some legislators is kind of weird considering it
was in the" (Assembly and Senate budget bills), he said. "I don’t think we as a state
should be playing politics with people’s lives. And the fact of the matter is that there
were people who were trying to sow division amongst legislators and across the board. …
Our communities have been hurting for over a year now and have been receiving nothing
in aid and we just weren't going to stand for that.”

According to two sources from the Assembly who spoke on the condition of anonymity,
the impetus for the policy landing in the final budget deal was because of the Senate.
They said the issue was only discussed in closed-door meetings of Assembly Democrats
within the last two weeks, and it took many by surprise. The two sources were critical
of the process by which the policy was made, although they both said the policy was
improved through a question-and-answer process that fleshed out certain details.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins told Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie
that she had the votes for the policy and was insistent on it being in the budget, one
of the sources said. That put the Democratic-controlled Assembly in the politically
unthinkable position of needing to publicly deny help to immigrants. That person added
that while they're hesitant on the details of the excluded worker plan, they strongly
support a number of other funds and program in the budget.

“And this is the problem with the big ugly, right? The big ugly has a lot of good things
in there," the person said.

Republicans have uniformly opposed the idea in both chambers, saying it unduly prioritizes
undocumented noncitizens ahead of New Yorkers.

“I do think this is a well-intentioned idea. I think that everyone has compassion for people
and would love to help folks out, but you’re talking about a budget here where we’re already
spending 20 percent more than last year, $18 billion to be exact," said Assemblyman Chris Tague,
whose district includes Greene, Columbia and Albany counties. He said he feels it's nonsensical
the state is not putting away a portion of the billions it has received from the federal government
for a rainy day fund.

“We’re (spending) $2.1 billion and we don’t know who this person is or why they’re here or
what they’ve been doing? I mean everybody’s been hit hard by this COVID crisis and we want
to help everybody, but it also gets to the point where we have to protect the state of New York,
we have to protect the people of the state, we have to take care of them first," Tague said.

Another concern among opponents of the bill — and some supporters — is that it will lead to fraud.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Wednesday that the state attorney general and comptroller will be required
to sign off on the plan to distribute benefits to guard against fraud.

"Just because you’re undocumented doesn’t mean we don’t care and we don’t have compassion and
we don’t want to help," Cuomo said. "It is difficult to do it in a way that can be administered without
fraud. And that’s obviously a major concern for us, that we protect every tax dollar."

Rivera said he felt some of his fellow Democrats were buying into the Republican messaging on the
bill, and that was what spurred him to speak out on Twitter.

"My sense at the time was that there was some organizing going on that was not in good faith. …
That was kind of buying into the racist propaganda that this is something that’s going to be harmful
to New Yorkers," Rivera said. "I wanted to make clear that if you stand with the folks who are
against this for illegitimate reasons, then I am not going to stand with you," he added, explaining
his threats on Twitter to block health-related legislation from Assembly members who opposed the bill.

Heastie, the Assembly speaker, clapped back, effectively telling Rivera to mind his business and not
worry about the Assembly's.

"With all due respect senator, the Assembly has had and will have the votes to pass an excluded
workers fund bill that covers all workers. Stop worrying about the Assembly and worry about your
own house," he wrote.

The Senate passed each of the 10 bills necessary to fund the state government for the near future
by early Wednesday morning, and the Assembly convened Wednesday afternoon to finish its own
parallel process.