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Q&A
Strategies for addressing federal funding uncertainty
4:15:01
ยท
129 sec
Councilmember Brannan and Comptroller Lander discuss how to prepare for potential federal funding cuts and the administration's response to this uncertainty.
- Comptroller's office proposes increasing the general reserve by $1 billion as a prudent measure
- Potential federal cuts, especially to Medicaid, could significantly impact the city's budget
- The Comptroller's office has released reports outlining the city's vulnerabilities to federal cuts
- Lander expresses surprise that the preliminary budget does not include any contingency plans or increased reserves to address potential federal funding cuts
Justin Brannan
4:15:01
Okay.
4:15:04
And how much I mean, I guess this is the million dollar question, but how much of the uncertainty we're seeing from Washington can be how do we prepare for it?
Brad Lander
4:15:19
So I'll start here and then, you know, and then Francesco can can dig in a little more.
4:15:24
I mean, first, we're proposing increasing the general reserve by a billion dollars, which is a a big step.
4:15:30
I mean, that is really emergency.
4:15:33
That means coming up with a billion dollars that we don't commit to spending somewhere.
4:15:38
But this is a prudent year to do that.
4:15:41
I mean, the likelihood of really devastating federal cuts if they do to Medicaid, what the budget resolution last year proposed, that by itself could hit our budget in that way.
4:15:52
So so and, you know, we've tried in all the reports that we've laid out.
4:15:56
We've got now three separate reports, you know, protecting New York City, a deeper dive into the budget, and then a look at the money that flows through to nonprofit human service providers just to try to outline where our vulnerabilities are.
4:16:10
The challenge is they've just like thrown spaghetti at the wall, excuse me, against all those vulnerabilities.
4:16:22
And it's hard to really focus and say here's where we think the problem will be.
4:16:27
So that's, you know, what we would recommend as step one is putting $1,000,000,000 more in the general in the general reserve.
Justin Brannan
4:16:35
Have you gotten any sense that the administration shares the urgency of this moment?
Brad Lander
4:16:41
I mean, again, it was surprising to me.
4:16:44
Obviously, the preliminary budget was presented, you know, some, you know, time ago now, but already with enough clarity about what the Trump administration's plans are going to be to put forward something.
4:16:57
I mean, the preliminary budget does not include any attention.
4:17:02
No savings plan, no increase in reserves, no proposal for, you know, any kind of contingency that we can find.