In this most unusual election, votes were still being tallied late last week, but most analysts acknowledged that former Vice President Joseph Biden was on track to become the next president of the United States. The House will remain in control of Democrats, but it looks like we may have to wait until January for runoff elections in Georgia to find out which party will control the Senate.
Even if the GOP holds on to the Senate, the election results bode well for New York. City and state officials went into the election hoping for a Democratic sweep of both the presidency and the Senate because they are hoping for billions in bailout money for their respective budgets, which have been ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Although they didn't get everything they wanted, they are in better shape now than a few weeks ago. The combination of another Trump presidency and a Republican-controlled Senate likely would have doomed the city and the state, as well as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, into making unpopular fiscal decisions such as cuts to vital services and mass layoffs. It certainly would have stalled the city's recovery, which is already expected to be measured in years and not months.
Nothing is guaranteed next year under a Biden presidency, but there is reason to hope that bailout money may be on the way. For one, he is a fellow Democrat and a friend of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The fact that the state's senior senator, Chuck Schumer, is the Senate minority leader doesn't hurt either. And then there is former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who pumped $100 million into Biden's campaign just in Florida. Bloomberg doesn't need to be paid back, but the city he once ran could use some love.
At the same time, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has softened his position on aid to states and cities like New York. Until now Republican senators—and McConnell in particular—had thumbed their noses at New York, claiming that U.S. taxpayers shouldn't have to bail out cities and states that have not been able to manage their finances responsibly.
But just last week, after the election, McConnell, who Biden served with in the U.S. Senate, said the first priority for Congress when it returns to Washington should be to pass another Covid relief bill. And he said aid to state and local governments could be a part of such legislation. Of course, he will have to convince his fellow Republicans that this is a good idea.
What can city and state officials do in the meantime? Plenty. If they are smart, they will take steps now to show they are getting their fiscal houses in order, whether that takes the form of salary freezes, reductions in workforce through attrition or early retirement programs. In fact, they should probably proceed as if they are not getting a cent from D.C. This way, they can prove to some of the more recalcitrant GOP senators that they are helping themselves and thus deserve help from the federal government.
New York was at the epicenter of the pandemic, and it is still at the epicenter of the recession. We should not have to beg for federal help, but officials must do everything they can to ensure that funds are forthcoming. The future of the city and the state are at stake.
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November 09, 2020 at 08:30PM
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Election results may bear fruit for New York - Crain's New York Business
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