FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 2, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 27
End hunger and poverty for thousands of New York’s children
BY RACHEL SABELLA
Th e checks are in the mail.
Th is July, millions of households across
the country and hundreds of thousands
right here in New York started receiving
additional money through the Child Tax
Credit secured by President Biden and the
Congress earlier this year.
We’ve seen a wave of new programs,
stimulus money and unemployment
benefi ts fl ow to Americans hit hard by
the pandemic. But the Child Tax Credit
expansion is diff erent. In fact, it could be
one of the most powerful anti-poverty
tools we’ve ever had in this country.
According to estimates, the changes
to the Child Tax Credit this year could
help an additional 39 million households
across the country this year and lift as
many as 5 million kids out of poverty.
And the emerging consensus is that the
expanded Child Tax Credit is so eff ective,
it could cut child poverty in half.
HOW WILL GOVERNOR
HOCHUL RESOLVE
CUOMO’S UNFINISHED
TRANSPORTATION
BUSINESS
Over the next 16 months, it will be
interesting to see how Governor Kathy
Hochul will deal with a number of unresolved
transportation issues left behind by
former Governor Andrew Cuomo.
When will she fi ll the fi ve vacant seats
on the MTA Traffi c Mobility Review
Board? Since November 2019, Cuomo has
delayed announcing his appointments. It
is now 20 months late. Details of who will
pay for what can never be resolved until
this board is established and completes
its mission.
Toll pricing recommendations were
originally promised to be made public
by November 2020. If these vacancies
remain, the MTA could miss the revised
forecasted January 2023 start date for
Congestion Price Tolling. Th is was supposed
to have raised $15 of the $51 billion
MTA 2020 - 2024 Five-Year Capital Plan.
It is bad enough that the MTA recently
stated that they need 16 months just to
complete the federal NEPA environmental
review process.
Albany committed to provide the MTA
with $3.5 billion, which would help fully
fund the $51 billion 2020 - 2040 Five-Year
Capital Plan. It is well into the second year
of this program and Albany has provided
very little of these funds to date. Will
Hochul accelerate Albany’s contribution
sooner rather than later?
Th e release of the MTA 2020 - 2040
20-Year Capital Needs Plan is still outstanding.
Cuomo previously promised that
the Metropolitan Transportation Authority
20-Year Capital Needs Plan for 2020 - 2040
would be released by December 2019. It
is now 20 months overdue. Will Hochul
instruct her MTA board members to direct
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber to make this
document public ASAP?
Th ere is still no agreement between New
Jersey and NY on how to divide up $14.5
billion of CARE COVID-19 emergency
transit relief funding. Connecticut is the
third player in this negotiation. Th ey side
with NJ in this dispute. MTA wants to use
a diff erent formula from the one normally
used in distribution of Federal Transit
Administration Section 5307 funding.
Th is would result in NJ Transit losing
$637 million, which the MTA would
receive instead. Th e three state DOT commissioners
have been negotiating this split
since January with no resolution to date.
Will Hochul instruct her negotiators to
resolve this issue ASAP?
Serious questions have been raised by
Port Authority staff concerning undue
pressure exerted on them by the previous
Cuomo administration in the development
of the NEPA document for
Federal Aviation Administration approval
necessary to advance the $2.05 billion
LaGuardia AirTrain. Many have questions
as to the viability and value of this
investment. Will Hochul revisit this issue
before the Port Authority moves forward
with the award of construction contracts
before the end of the year?
Many have also questioned the value of
Cuomo’s proposed $16 billion New York
Empire Station Complex project. Before
moving forward beyond completion of
a feasibility study, will Hochul revisit the
merits of advancing this project?
Cuomo would not commit Albany’s
25% — or $2.9 billion — share toward the
$11.6 billion cost of the proposed Gateway
Tunnel. He wanted Amtrak to follow a
diff erent construction strategy. NY’s share
is needed to leverage $5.8 billion in funding
from the Federal Transit & Federal
Railroad Administrations. Without his
fi nancial contribution, the project will not
proceed. What will be Hochul’s position
on this project? Will she bring $2.9 billion
in hard cash to the table? Someone has
to fi nd millions to support a free transfer
between the NY MTA bus and subway
with the NYC Economic Development
Corporation Private Ferry Operators program.
Will Hochul assist the MTA in fi nding
funding to implement this discount?
Commuters, taxpayers, transportation
advocates, transit reporters and local
elected offi cials will be watching in coming
months how Hochul will deal with
and resolve all of these ongoing issues.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
op-ed
letters & comments
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It couldn’t come at a more crucial time.
Th e pandemic plunged millions of families
into economic hardship. It erased a
decade of progress reducing child hunger.
For a state where nearly one in fi ve kids
is raised in poverty, the Child Tax Credit
could be a game-changer.
But only if the families who need it
most take the steps to secure their own
benefi t.
Th e Child Tax Credit has been around
for decades. Most parents are familiar
with it from fi ling personal income taxes
each year. Until this year, it maxed out at
$2,000 annually. Th at’s hardly enough to
cover the costs of raising a child, but for a
low-income household, it can help cover
critical expenses.
Now, because of the pandemic,
Washington has upsized the benefi t to
$3,000 annually, and $3,600 for each child
under six. Th at’s a meaningful increase
for families struggling to make ends meet.
But the biggest change is that families
who don’t earn enough income to fi le
income taxes now qualify for the benefi t,
too. Until this year, they were excluded.
It’s counterintuitive, but historically, the
families who needed the Child Tax Credit
the most have never even qualifi ed for it.
Now, every family will see this benefi t
— but only if newly eligible families take
the time to enroll. If you didn’t receive this
payment in July or August, go to GetCTC.
org/strength to sign up. Tell your friends
and family members with kids. Make an
announcement at your local church or
religious service.
Th e beauty of this benefi t is that it can
be used for anything — and so families
end up using it on what’s most essential
for them. And we see time and time again
that it helps families’ budgets where they
struggle most: putting food on the table.
When families face fi xed expenses like
rent and utilities, they are forced to cut
back where they can — and too oft en
that’s food. Th e latest data shows one in
four kids here in New York City could
face food insecurity this year. Th ose are
households where mom or dad is forced
to skip meals to give their kids enough to
eat, or days toward the end of the month
when there’s not enough money to buy
groceries.
Food insecurity aff ects how kids do in
school. It aff ects their physical and mental
development. And it fosters a negative
cycle of poverty unless we break it.
Th is year’s expanded Child Tax Credit
is one of the most powerful tools we’ve
ever had in our fi ght against child hunger.
We can’t let any family leave that money
on the table.
Spread the word.
Th e sooner families sign up, the sooner
we can get them benefi ts.
And the sooner we can decisively turn
the tide against child poverty in New
York.
Rachel Sabella is the director of No Kid
Hungry New York.
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