Nadler shares Democrats’wish
list for next COVID-19 aid bill
BY GRANT LANCASTER
Congressman Jerry Nadler outlined
the terms of a proposed Democratic
backed pandemic relief bill in a
meeting with Manhattan elected offi cials
and local business owners with questions
about the Paycheck Protection Program.
FILE PHOTO
Time limit extended for sex abuse victims to
file claims under New York Child Victims Act
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
The coronavirus pandemic has
forced Governor Andrew Cuomo to
extend the deadline for fi ling new
childhood sexual abuse claims under New
York’s Child Victims Act.
The legislation enacted last year allowed
for sex abuse survivors in cases that had
been time-barred or expired to fi le a claim
by Aug. 14, 2020. But the pandemic led to
a reduction in court service, thus limiting
the ability for survivors’ attorneys to fi le
and prepare cases.
“Because of the reduction in court services,
we want to extend that window and
we’ll extend it for an additional fi ve months
until Jan. 14, 2021, because people need
access to the courts to make their claim,”
Cuomo said during his May 8 daily briefi ng.
“Justice too long delayed is justice denied,
Martin Luther King Jr. said. So we will
extend that window for people to bring
their case.”
Manhattan state Senator Brad Hoylman
applauded Cuomo’s decision, but noted that
the dire state of New York’s economy will
The bill, called the Heroes Act, would
provide $1 trillion for state and local
governments, $200 billion for hazard pay
for fi rst responders and medical workers
and $25 billion to support the U.S. Postal
Service, as well as extending enhanced
unemployment benefi ts and offering another
round of direct stimulus spending
Governor Andrew Cuomo with state Senator Brad Hoylman, Assemblywoman
Linda Rosenthal, Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte, former Assemblywoman
Margaret Markey and other lawmakers at the February 2019 billsigning
ceremony for the Child Victims Act.
further hinder the ability of many sex abuse
survivors to make their claim even under
the extended deadline.
to Americans.
The House is expected to vote on the
bill, which was written without input
from Republicans or the White House,
by Friday, but it will likely go through
some changes in response to resistance
from Senate Republicans, Nadler said in
the meeting, which was organized by the
Greenwich Village Chelsea Chamber of
Commerce.
Nadler thinks most Republicans would
rather wait and see the effects of the past
stimulus bills before approving more
spending, he said.
Because of the payments made on state,
county and city level, New York City would
receive about $11.5 billion dollars in aid
this year and nearly $6 billion next year if
the bill passes as written, Nadler said. As a
whole, the state would get $22 billion this
year and $12 billion the next.
“New York does very well in this bill,”
Nadler said.
Another important aspect of the bill is
the elimination of the PPP’s “75/25 rule,”
which requires that 75% of aid money be
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
Hoylman and Assemblywoman Linda
Rosenthal are sponsoring legislation that
would extend the look-back window for the
spent on retaining or rehiring employees,
Nadler said. This has backfi red in some
ways, with businesses under mandatory
closure able to keep staff but not pay for
other important operating expenses.
Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assembly
Member Deborah Glick expressed their
gratitude for the proposed federal spending,
stressing the importance of the aid for
New York State, which Glick said has $15-
17 billion in lost revenue so far this year.
“We can’t cut our way out of this pandemic,
we can’t cut our way out of this
recession,” Hoylman said.
Hoylman and City Council Speaker
Corey Johnson shared some of their plans
to help New Yorkers alongside – or in place
of, if the bill is blocked by Republicans –
federal aid.
Hoylman asked Gov. Andrew Cuomo
to issue an executive order allowing small
businesses to keep their sales tax payments
from Q4 2019 to pay for expenses, he said.
The City Council will vote Wednesday
on bills protecting small business owners
from tenant harassment and temporarily
suspending business owners’ personal liability
on commercial leases, meaning they
would not be forced to give up their keys
if they could not pay rent, Johnson said.
Despite these efforts, the elected offi
cials insisted that more federal money
would be essential for the recovery effort.
Child Victims Act by a full year.
“As the unemployment rate spikes above
14%, it’s unreasonable to expect survivors
of child sexual abuse to do the emotional
and legal work necessary to fi le CVA lawsuits
while simultaneously fi ghting to pay
rent and put food on the table,” Hoylman
said in a statement. “Survivors need the
assurance that New York will stand with
them, even after the pandemic ends. That’s
why we must pass my legislation with
Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal to
extend the Child Victims Act’s look-back
window by a full twelve months.”
The Child Victims Act allows individuals
who were sexually abused to fi le claims
against not only their attacker, but also
public and private institutions with whom
the attacker was affi liated. It took more
than a decade for the act to become law,
as New York’s Catholic churches and other
organizations opposed it year after year due
to feared repercussions of the expanded
liability.
Hoylman and Rosenthal were among
the key sponsors of the Child Victims Act
enacted in February 2019.
4 May 14, 2020 Schneps Media