New York City traditionally counts on a great deal of federal funding to support and expand its massive transportation and infrastructure needs.
But the federal spending bill passed by the U.S. House and Senate last week and signed by President Trump could cause some problems down the road.
U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-Manhattan) is the only New York State representative on either the House or Senate Transportation Committees. And while it is still early in the process, Nadler is preparing for the possibility of a transportation turf war.
“This bill was just signed into law, and the agencies still have to act on it,” a senior Nadler staffer told the Chronicle. “There are no direct funding cuts to New York, but there are some dangers.”
One, he said, is that the reconciliation bill signed by Trump sets topping caps on non-defense spending. With New York City transportation programs and projects relying on non-defense appropriations, those dollars could become less available in the future.
“It’s not just are people competing for slices of a smaller pie,” the senior staffer said. “Capital investment grants are funds that the Second Avenue subway and other projects rely heavily on. So caps could lead to reduced investment grants, and less funding available for transportation. But we’re going to fight very hard for that, and the other cuts in general.”
The cuts also include many parts of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021, also known as the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act, where many programs have had money not yet obligated to a specific project rescinded.
“So while those funds would not technically have been cut from New York City, they could have been available in the future.”
Some places where the city may have to expect losses are funds for low- or no-emission bus programs, EV charging programs and transportation equity programs aimed at remedying past underfunding of transportation in given areas.
Nadler also is said to be gearing up for battle next week on a transportation appropriations bill where he has concerns about Republicans looking to cut more from transit, Amtrak and other programs.
The subject of federal budget cuts to Medicare came up at healthcare-related press conference hosted by Mayor Adams on Monday. But his answer appeared to cover everything from health to immigrant services
“Whenever we fall short on the federal or state level — because we fall short on both levels — whenever we fall short on the federal or the state level in receiving the funding that we deserve, New York is the economic engine for the state and for the federal government,” Adams said in a transcript from his office. “Whenever we fall short, we have to go and find ways to fill the gap. We’ve done that.”
One example he gave was dealing with $7 billion in care and services for migrant and asylum seekers.
“We found ways to ensure that we did not devastate these important programs,” Adams said. “So we don’t control budgets that are passed on the state level, budgets that are passed on the federal level … So we’re going to do an analysis of the cuts that we are going to be impacted on the federal level, just as we did on the state level, and we’re going to make sure these programs continue to thrive and grow, because we know how important they are.
Gov. Hochul’s office did not respond to requests for comment on potential impacts to the state prior to the Chronicle’s deadline on Wednesday.