The U.S. congressional delegation from New York will propose a bill geared towards preventing corporations from using bailout money to pad profits, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday.
Gov. Cuomo renewed his calls for bipartisanship on COVID-19 relief, urging Congress to fund states wrestling with the worst of the virus.
He also cautioned that everyday Americans are going to pay the price — like they did in 2008 — if Congress doesn't include protections for working people in its next stimulus bill.
"Do not betray the American people again," Cuomo said, referring to the much-maligned 2008 bank bailouts.
He went on to "guarantee" that corporate America is already devising a "new scam" to increase profits, dividends and stock valuations with layoffs after they receive stimulus money.
"They're already telling investors that they are downsizing," he said.
The solution, according to Cuomo, is the Americans First Act, which would bar corporations from keeping stimulus money if they do not rehire the same number of employees they had before the pandemic shutdowns.
The governor said Congress should look at the pandemic relief as an opportunity to "reimagine America," saying that now is the time to invest in the nation's crumbling roads and bridges, bolster mass transit and build new airports.
He also called for a repeal of the State and Local Tax (SALT), which he said was a punitive and political law, which prevented homeowners in many high-tax states from deducting state and local taxes.
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