Rep. Stefanik loses more than $1M for N.Y.’s Seaway International Bridge, says it was bad deal
WASHINGTON -- A false talking point that Republicans used about bridge funding in President Biden’s $1.9T COVID relief bill will end up costing New York’s upstate district in real life, the Daily News has learned.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) denounced the huge relief package claiming the Democrats added unnecessary spending including $1.5 million for the “Schumer bridge” better known as the Seaway International Bridge connecting New York to Canada across the St. Lawrence River.
In reality, the funding was originally requested by the Trump administration and then-Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to cover maintenance and toll revenue lost, nearly $170,000 a month, when the borders were significantly restricted due to the pandemic.
A source familiar with work on the measure in the U.S. Senate told the News that the earmarked funding has been dropped since Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who represents the North Country, declined to fight for it.
“Senate committee bill drafters have dropped from the COVID bill funding requested by the Trump-Chao DOT ... after the local Congresswoman refused to advocate for it in this legislation,” a source familiar with the developing package of aid said.
Even after the provision was removed, it remained a talking point on the Senate floor Tuesday, with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) likening it to a much larger grant destined for a train line near House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s district in California.
Asked about the loss of the money, Stefanik’s office said it was a “bad deal,” and defended her advocacy of bridge funding.
“This was a massive political swing-and-a-miss for Speaker Pelosi,” said spokesperson Karoline Leavitt. “$112 million for her pork subway project and a mere $1.2 million for the bridge in the North Country is a bad, bad deal.”
She put blame on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) for letting the Seaway bridge money land in the middle of a political fight.
“It’s an embarrassment that Sens. Schumer and Gillibrand would allow the North Country to be used as a desperate political pawn by Nancy Pelosi to jam through her $1.9 trillion bill,” Leavitt said,
She added that Stefanik brought home the bacon before, with more than $75 million for the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation that runs the bridge, and $6 million for the Seaway International Bridge itself.
“Nice try Nancy, but remember Congresswoman Stefanik absolutely crushed your handpicked Dem candidate not once, but TWICE by the largest margin of any Republican in the Northeast,” Leavitt said.
Schumer said the Senate will debate on the economic relief bill as soon as Wednesday and predicted, “We’ll have the votes we need to pass the bill.” Democrats want to send a final package to Biden by March 14, when an earlier round of emergency jobless benefits expires.
