NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York state could receive at least $5 billion in direct aid from President-elect Barack Obama's planned stimulus package, helping to shrink a historic budget deficit, according to U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer.
The stimulus package is expected to include $80 billion to $100 billion in additional funding to localities and states for Medicaid, the federal health care funding program for the poor, the elderly and the disabled, Schumer said in a statement.
The package will also include money for infrastructure projects, said the statement, which was released ahead of a news conference scheduled for Monday.
"New York's (Medicaid) matching rate could be temporarily increased by approximately 10 percent -- resulting in at least $5 billion a year," said the statement.
"This money would be injected directly into the state coffers and could help defray budget cuts and future tax hikes," the New York Democrat said.
New York is facing a record $15.4 billion deficit over the next 15 months.
Congress is mulling two different approaches to the Medicaid issue, an across-the-board increase for all states or a tiered approach. In either scenario, New York stands to benefit, said Schumer.
The senator is working with Obama's transition team to work out the details of the stimulus package.
The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is also grappling with a record deficit of about $1.2 billion, is expected to benefit from hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency funding for maintenance and upgrades, Schumer said at a news conference on Sunday.
The senator and U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York City Democrat, are pushing for at least $20 billion in new funding to be devoted to national mass transit systems.
That would allow the MTA to revive bus and subway projects that have been delayed or canceled as the authority has cut back on its $28 billion capital program.
The MTA board earlier this month approved a "doomsday" budget that would impose sharply higher fares and severe service cuts on New Yorkers unless the state or federal government intervenes.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081229/us_nm/us_newyork_stimulus
Topic: NY state could receive $5 billion in stimulus: Schumer (Read 404 times)