With a bipartisan spending and COVID relief deal now passed by Congress, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer detailed its pending impact on Upstate New York as more th

WASHINGTON—With a bipartisan spending and COVID relief deal now passed by Congress, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer detailed its pending impact on Upstate New York as more than $54 billion.

The deal includes direct stimulus checks, extending enhanced unemployment insurance, and secures another round of forgivable PPP for small businesses, restaurants and nonprofits across the state. As part of the deal, more than $13 billion flows directly to New York State government via education funding, vaccine distribution, COVID health funding, emergency assistance for renters and more.

“Today’s deal marks $50 billion-plus for New York workers, families, renters, communities, healthcare organizations and New York government —the things the federal government must immediately fund to get us through this pandemic,” said Sen. Schumer. “This marks the second biggest relief bill in the nation’s history—second to the CARES Act—and it delivers aid that is urgently needed by the unemployed, by renters at risk of losing their homes, by small business owners throughout New York that are worried about going out of business, by people seeking vaccination, by schools that spent money to keep kids safe, by families struggling to make ends meet and so much more.”

He termed the stimulus funding as an “emergency survival bill” and that Democrats will fight for more relief under President Biden because the COVID crisis is not over.

Among the key real estate-related measures include: $1.3 billion in Emergency Rental Assistance funding. In addition, the CDC federal eviction moratorium will also be extended until Jan. 31, 2021, and can be extended further by the next administration.

In addition to a host of real estate and business assistance funding allocations, the relief bill also provides $4 billion to the beleaguered Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

MTA Chairman and CEO Patrick Foye said, “We are relieved and thankful to see Congress pass another coronavirus relief bill that includes $4 billion in federal relief for the MTA. This crucial funding will allow us to get through 2021 without devastating service cuts and layoffs of over 9,000 colleagues. To be clear, we are still facing an $8 billion deficit in the years ahead, but this is a promising first step that will help protect the local, state and national economies in the short term. We hope any future bills will fully offset the impact of the pandemic as there can be no recovery without a strong public transportation system serving as the engine for progress.”

The details of some of the funding for New York includes:

Direct Aid to New York State Governments

$5.8 Billion—To the Education Stabilization Fund

$4 Billion—To the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, provides relief to K-12 public schools across the State of New York.

$1.4 Billion—For the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, directs funds to New York’s university system, like SUNY and CUNY.

$313 Million—For the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, the governor can use these funds at his discretion to support the state’s K-12 education and higher education needs related to COVID-19. Including a set aside that will be prioritized to private schools serving low-income students who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

$200 Million—Emergency Transit Relief will support county bus services and upstate transit agencies.

$426 Million—Critical aid to the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) to backstop declining revenues and support construction jobs.

$105.5 Million—Relief for New York airports to continue operating safely during the pandemic. Upstate airports will receive including $6.4 million for the Hudson Valley.

COVID Health & Relief

$1.6 Billion—Vaccine, Testing, and Tracing, and Flexible Local Health Funding. $810 million for New York State and $810 million for New York City.

FEMA Disaster Relief Fund

$1 Billion—FEMA estimates that in Fiscal Year 2021 New York will receive about $1 billion in FEMA aid for COVID-19 alone.

More than $6.5 Billion for NY in Enhanced Unemployment Compensation—This bill provides billions in additional federal relief for struggling New Yorkers by extending the historic unemployment insurance reforms established in the CARES Act through March 14, 2021. Importantly, it reinstates the critical lifeline of the enhanced unemployment assistance, providing an additional $300 per week on top of all state and federal unemployment benefits. The bill also:

Extends the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which provides unemployment benefits to the self-employed, freelancers, gig workers, part-time workers and other New Yorkers in non-traditional employment, and increases the number of weeks of PUA benefits an individual can claim from 39 to 50.

Provides 24 additional weeks of federally-funded unemployment insurance benefits to New Yorkers who have exhausted their regular state benefits.

Continues the full federal financing of state Shared Work programs, allowing thousands of New York employers to keep their valued employees on payroll during this downturn.

Delivers a federally-funded $100 per week additional “mixed-earner” benefit to New Yorkers who have a combination of traditional (W-2) and independent employment (1099) income and are disqualified from receiving PUA because they are still eligible for regular state benefits.

$9 Billion for New Yorkers—Direct cash payments to New Yorkers, including $600 for individuals making up to $75,000, $1,200 for couples making less than $150,000, and an additional $600 per child. This amounts to $2,400 for a family of four.

$260 Million—To FEMA’s funeral assistance – financial aid to those who have lost a loved one among the over 35,000 deaths in New York caused by COVID – which comes at no cost to the state.

Relief For New York Small Businesses, Families, Live Venues, Cultural Institutions and Other Entities

More Than $20 Billion for the New York Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to provide a second round of forgivable loans to New York small businesses, including restaurants, nonprofits and grant assistance to very small, underserved businesses and live venues, independent movie theaters, and cultural institutions, as well as:

New dedicated set-aside for PPP lending through Community Development Financial Institutions, Minority Depository Institutions, and other community lenders to reach minority-owned and other underserved small businesses and nonprofits.

New dedicated set-aside for very small businesses to gain greater access to PPP.

New larger forgivable loans for the restaurant and hospitality industries and the ability to use funds for PPE, outdoor dining enhancements, and more.

“SAVE OUR STAGES” ($15B NATIONALLY)—Dedicated relief for Broadway, comedy halls, music venues, other live entertainment, independent movie theaters, and cultural institutions—New York is positioned to get a large share of the $15 billion.

Housing cooperatives, tourism organizations, and local newspaper, TV and radio stations made eligible for PPP.

$10,000 SBA grants will be available for very small and underserved businesses in low-income communities.

Provides $3.5 billion to resume debt relief payments of principal and interest (P&I) on small business loans guaranteed by the SBA under the 7(a), 504 and microloan programs.

Includes $2 billion to enhance SBA’s core programs, including 7(a), Community Advantage, 504, and the Microloan program, by making them more affordable and useful to small businesses.

SBA Microloan Program is funded at $57 million to provide technical assistance and leverage about $64 million in microloans for minority-owned and other underserved small businesses.

The bill also extends and expands the refundable Employee Retention Tax Credit. The extension of this tax credit, through July 1, 2021, will help keep thousands of additional New Yorkers on payroll and small and mid-size employers all across New York afloat.

$15 billion to renew the CARES Act Airline Payroll Support Program which will save thousands of New York airline jobs by keeping workers on payroll without furloughs or reducing pay rates and benefits until March 31, 2021 New York will receive sizable share of these funds.

$1 billion in CARES ACT Contractor Payroll Support Program will help thousands of New York’s aviation industry contractor workers keep their paychecks.

Emergency Child Care Grants

$465 Million—For Child Care Development Block Grants (CCDBG) – These funds ensure that the child care sector will continue to assist essential workers and working families, and to support child care providers in meeting their increased operation costs during the pandemic.

Connecting More NY Families to Broadband

$7 Billion—For Emergency Benefit for Broadband Service to provide free or low-cost broadband service to low-income families or those who have been recently laid off or furloughed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. New York will receive sizable share of these funds.

Ny Hospitals & Health Centers

$1 Billion to New York in support and relief for hospitals, mental health, community health centers and providers.

The relief package also includes $13 billion nationally in Nutrition Assistance, of which New York will receive a sizable share, and funding for the state’s fisheries.