NEW YORK (AP) — Fresh off the Senate’s passage of a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 rescue package, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was back in New York on Sunday to promote what he said would be the plan’s $100 billion impact on his home state.
“I say to beleaguered New Yorkers, help is on the way,” the Democrat said, detailing aid that he said would be headed to schools, small businesses, museums, restaurants, theaters and local governments plus the $1,400 in direct aid that most New Yorkers are slated to receive as part of the relief package.
“As majority leader I did all I could to make sure that New York was helped in every different aspect,” Schumer said at a news conference in the lobby of the Manhattan building where his office is located.
The Senate’s passage of the relief bill Saturday puts President Joe Biden’s top priority closer to becoming law and shows Schumer, in his first big test as majority leader, can unify the wafer-thin Democratic majority and deliver the votes.
Schumer told The Associated Press in an interview in Washington after the vote, “Lessons learned: If we have unity, we can do big things.”