Albany County slated for $174M from federal rescue package

ALBANY COUNTY — Albany County — including the municipal governments within its boundaries — is slated to get $173,960,989 under the 2021 Fiscal Reconciliation Act currently moving through Congress.

The funds are to maintain essential services and staff, including teachers, nurses, firefighters, and water-systems managers, according to Congressman Paul Tonko, a Democrat representing the Capital Region.

According to numbers estimated by Tonko’s office:

— Albany County itself would get $600,000;

— The village of Altamont would receive $310,984;

— The town of Berne, $512,024;

— The town of Bethlehem, $6,484,466;

— The town of Guilderland, $6,606,236;

— The town of Knox, $495,394;

— The town of New Scotland, $1,605,364;

— The town of Rensselaerville, $337,407;

— The village of Voorheesville, $515,165; and

— The town of Westerlo, $611,251.

These estimates, Tonko’s office explained, are based in part on data from the 2018 federal Census Bureau. Overlapping jurisdictions may reduce amounts provided to governments; the list above is from the “no overlap” column. A full list can be found here.

“Our local communities may not all survive long months of further economic hardship without federal help,” said Tonko in a statement on Friday, releasing the estimates. “As more contagious new COVID variants continue to spread throughout the country, and with vaccinations still coming far too slowly and herd immunity still months away, we need bold leadership now to deliver that relief. Our COVID package does just that.”

The Reconciliation Act provision includes:

— $195.3 billion to states and the District of Columbia with $25.5 billion of that total equally divided among the states and $169 billion based on the state share of total unemployed workers;

— $130.2 billion to local governments, divided evenly between cities and counties;

— $4.5 billion to territories; and

— $20 billion to federally recognized tribal governments.

The legislation would also provide $570 million in emergency leave for federal and postal workers and an additional $117 million in funds to oversight entities to promote transparency and accountability of all federal coronavirus relief funds.

Also on Friday, Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who chairs the National Governors Association, released a joint statement with Asa Hutchinson, the Republican governor of Arkansas who is vice chair of the association, after meeting with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Governors from across the country and the political spectrum have said for months that flexible and direct aid to state and local governments is essential for our continued front-line response to the COVID-19 crisis and our national economic recovery,” the statement said. “During our Oval Office meeting today with President Biden, Vice President Harris, and a bipartisan group of governors and mayors from across the country, the president and his team made clear that they recognize and appreciate how critical this targeted relief is for our ability to recover from this pandemic.”

Cuomo and Hutchinson thanked the Biden administration for its support and went on to “call on Congress to ensure sufficient state and local aid is included in the final relief package. The finish line of this pandemic is in sight, and this support will give states and territories the resources we need to reach it, while continuing to provide the essential services our constituents rely on.”

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