Title 42, enacted during the COVID-19 Pandemic, allowed the U.S. government to turn away migrants at the border, including asylum-seekers.

Hochul’s executive order will provide the State with greater flexibility to procure the resources necessary for municipalities to support asylum seekers while also allowing the State to mobilize 500 members of the National Guard service who are providing logistical and operational support.

It will also allow the State and localities to quickly purchase necessary supplies and resources, including food and equipment.

The order will also prevent hotels, hospitals and other facilities providing care for migrants from being considered their landlord, which means the state’s current tenant protections wouldn’t apply.

Governor Hochul said in a release that she has consistently pushed for additional federal support, specifically regarding funding and shortened waiting periods before asylum seekers can legally work.

She added that her administration has raised this issue directly with President Biden, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and other top advisors.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks on House Republican debt ceiling plan (April 26, 2023)

House Republicans passed a debt ceiling hike Wednesday.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy pushed his package to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion through the House in a close vote. But the White House continues to say that it will not negotiate on the issue.

The federal government could default as soon as early June.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted the House’s Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023, calling it a “gut punch” and a “Default On America,” “This plan means fewer jobs, higher costs for the American people, particularly average middle class people, would leave police, first responders, border patrol, and our brave veterans all hanging out to dry. There are dramatic slashes with each of those very necessary functions.”

Schumer said a clean debt ceiling had been passed before in a bipartisan manner twice under President Trump and once under President Obama.

Congressman Nick Langworthy issued a statement on the plan, saying, “Today, I was proud to vote for the Limit Save Grow Act that is the first step to breaking Washington’s addiction to spending and getting our nation’s finances back on track. This plan is a responsible, reasonable framework for spending reforms that the American people are demanding. It’s time for President Biden to stop the games and come to the table to negotiate.”

Schumer said the cuts in the House’s plan are not abstract including the possibility that 2 million New York residents could lose Medicaid coverage, “It slashes federal heating assistance, LIHEAP, that upstate families and seniors use to stay safe. We lose close to a billion dollars in LIHEAP and would reduce the average benefit a household would receive by $400. New York does better with LIHEAP than any other state and it would hurt us dramatically.”

Schumer said there could be a $144 million cut in SNAP benefits for New Yorkers which would affect 53,000 residents in the state.

Moody’s analytics warned that “dramatic” cuts to government spending in the House Republican’s plan would spark a 2024 recession that costs the economy 2.6 million jobs and lifts the unemployment rate near 6%.

A nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysis released Tuesday showed the Republican plan would reduce federal deficits by $4.8 trillion over the decade if the proposed changes were enacted into law.

Jamestown Community College

This coincides with the recent announcement from the State University of New York Chancellor John B. King and with the official declaration of the end of the national public health emergency by President Biden’s administration.

The change in guidelines will formally take effect with the beginning of Summer 2023 classes.

Students enrolled in any program or course, or who participate in a clinical or internship held at a third-party location, must continue to comply with all health and safety guidelines, including any vaccination or testing protocols that are in place at the third-party location.

For more information, go to sunyjcc.edu/covid19.

This marks the first bill passed by the GOP-controlled House this Congress.

The bill, which is unlikely to see action in the Democratic-controlled Senate, passed in a party-line 221-210 vote on Monday evening.

A boost of about $80 billion in IRS funding over a decade generally aimed at upping high-income enforcement was included in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, Democrats’ sweeping tax, health and climate bill.

The Republican bill, formally titled the “Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act,” directs any “unobligated balances of amounts appropriated or otherwise made available” to the IRS from the Inflation Reduction Act to be rescinded.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated Monday that the legislation would eliminate about $71 billion of the total $80 billion that was allocated for the IRS but would reduce tax revenue by about $186 billion, translating to a $114 billion increase in deficits over the next decade.

Republicans have repeatedly falsely claimed the 87,000 new IRS employees, who would be added over the course of a decade, would be “agents.”

The 87,000 figure comes from a May 2021 Treasury Department compliance report estimating new hires over a decade with the $80 billion funding boost. But only a small portion of the department’s current employees are agents, and the department has said the figure accounts for other workers such as customer service representatives and computer scientists as well as replacements for the 52,000 employees expected to retire or resign within the next six years.

IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said in an August letter to members of the Senate that the funds from the legislation would be used to up examination of large corporations and high-net-worth individuals and were not designed to raise enforcement for households making less than $400,000.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has also said that the agency would not increase audit rates for those taxpayers making less than $400,000.

Republicans, however, argued that the directives did not prohibit increased enforcement activities directed at middle- and low-income taxpayers, and pointed to a CBO analysis that said the funding boost would mean audit rates “rise for all taxpayers.” They also criticized the legislation for not allocating a larger portion to taxpayer services.

Representative Nick Langworthy voted for the bill, saying in a statement, “The problems facing the people of Western New York and the Southern Tier require a sense of urgency and that’s what they deserve from their representatives. I made a promise to protect taxpayers from an overzealous, politicized IRS and I delivered. The American people entrusted us with the Majority and it’s time we produce results. We are just getting started.”

The bill stand little chance in the Senate, and the White House said in a statement on Monday that President Biden would veto it if it came to his desk.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, and Governor Kathy Hochul hold a storm press briefing (December 26, 2022)

At least 27 people have died in Erie County following a winter storm that paralyzed a good portion of Western New York over the Christmas Holiday weekend.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz confirmed via Twitter of the 27 people who have died that 3 of the deaths were from an EMS Delay, 14 were from exposure, 3 were from shoveling or snow blowing cardiac events; 4 were from no heat; and 3 were those found in a vehicle. He said unfortunately he expects the number of deaths to still increase.

Poloncarz said driving bans remain in effect for Buffalo and Lackawanna with the rest of Erie County under a travel advisory.

The New York State Thruway remains closed from the Pennsylvania line to Exit 46 in Henrietta. The Thruway Authority was expecting to provide an update this morning on that situation.

The National Weather Service in Buffalo said the four-day storm total at the Buffalo Airport was 50 inches of snow. The storm, which had blizzard conditions, left hundreds of motorists stranded and 100,000 without power over the weekend.

President Joe Biden has approved a request by Governor Kathy Hochul for a federal declaration of emergency for Erie and Genesee Counties. The Emergency Declaration will provide immediate federal assistance to impacted counties to support ongoing response and recovery operations.

Hochul also deployed an additional 220 National Guard soldiers to the Western New York region, bringing the total of deployments to approximately 430.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump‘s real estate company was convicted on Tuesday of carrying out a 15-year-long criminal scheme to defraud tax authorities

A jury in Manhattan has found The Trump Organization guilty of paying personal expenses for top executives including former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, and issuing bonus checks to them as if they were independent contractors.

The company faces up to $1.6 million in fines after being convicted on all charges, including scheming to defraud tax authorities, conspiracy, and falsifying business records. Trump was not charged in the case.
A sentencing date has been set for January 13, 2023.

A lawyer for the Trump Organization said the company would appeal and that the criminal law governing corporate liability was vague.

The Trump Organization is still facing a fraud lawsuit brought by New York state Attorney General Letitia James.

And Trump himself is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice over his handling of sensitive government documents after he left office in January 2021 and attempts to overturn the November 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

The request comes as Canada allowed its COVID-19 entry restrictions to expire on October 1. Those restrictions included random testing and vaccine requirements.

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressman Brian Higgins have repeatedly urged the administration to prioritize the reopening of the land border.

Both said the Canadian land border closure placed severe economic strains on the supply chains of New York businesses, hospitals, and medical equipment providers that rely on travel across the northern border to produce essential goods and services.

In October 2021, the Biden administration announced that it would reopen the U.S.-Canada land border to fully vaccinated travelers from Canada.

Earlier this week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced it was ending its country-specific COVID-19 travel advisories. Gillibrand and Higgins point to this as further acknowledgement of the changing dynamics of the pandemic and justification for the U.S. to also proceed with the lifting of northern border travel restrictions.

Joe Sempolinski

Congressman Joe Sempolinski discussed concerns about student loan forgiveness in his first media call as the 23rd District‘s new representative.

Sempolinski, who was sworn in September 13, was named to the Education and Labor Committee, and Budget Committee. He said one of the topics that came up in the Education and Labor Committee was the student loan forgiveness program recently announced by President Joe Biden.

Sempolinski said his concerns with the program is that it’s not fair, “So it’s not fair to people who have paid off their loans on time. It’s not fair to people who are working in jobs where they didn’t get a loan. And also, the president doesn’t have the authority to do it in the first place. This wasn’t passed via law. This wasn’t something that we voted on in the House of Representatives, United States Senate. It was done by executive action and I don’t believe, constitutionally, the president has the authority to do it.”

Sempolinski added that all constituent offices in the district are fully operational again. The Congressman will be in Jamestown on Friday, September 23 for the Chautauqua Chamber of Commerce‘s annual Congressional Breakfast. The event will take place at Moonbrook Country Club.

Governor Kathy Hochul pledges support for hurricane battered Puerto Rico (September 19, 2022)

Hurricane Fiona strengthened to a category 3 overnight after leaving widespread devastation in Puerto Rico.

The storm dumped more than 2 feet of rain on the island and knocked out the U.S. territory’s electricity supply. More than one million people are without power. This is the worst storm to hit the island since Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Following a call with Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi, New York Governor Kathy Hochul directed the New York State Police to send 50 Troopers to assist with keeping residents safe, and 50 additional Troopers will be deployed in the coming weeks.

Hochul said Delta and JetBlue will both donate cargo space and transport emergency personnel; the Greater New York Hospital Association will provide medical supplies; and Coca-Cola has committed water and additional supplies. Habitat for Humanity of New York City and Westchester County and the State’s Building Trades also have committed their support as needs are identified. Additionally, teams from the New York Power Authority are ready to deploy and assist in restoring power to the island.

Hochul said she also will support relief efforts in the Dominican Republic, which also was heavily impacted by Fiona.

On Sunday, President Joe Biden declared Hurricane Fiona an emergency, authorizing FEMA to coordinate disaster relief efforts. Hochul said New York will work to support any requests coordinated by FEMA in the coming days to assist the residents of Puerto Rico.

Fiona is on a path to pass close to the Turks and Caicos islands today and was not expected to threaten the U.S. mainland.

Biden also announced that a pandemic-era pause on student loan payments, which has been in effect since March 2020, would expire at the end of the year.

Around 60 percent of borrowers have received Pell grants, and the majority come from families making less than $30,000 a year. The Education Department estimates that 27 million borrowers will qualify for up to $20,000 in relief.

Current students are also eligible for the debt relief. If they are dependents, they will be assessed based on their parents’ income. Borrowers will be assessed based on the income they reported in 2021 or 2020.

Biden also announced changes to the student loan system for current and future borrowers by:
– Cutting monthly payments in half for undergraduate loans. The Department of Education is proposing a new income-driven repayment plan that protects more low-income borrowers from making any payments and caps monthly payments for undergraduate loans at 5% of a borrower’s discretionary income. That’s half of the rate that borrowers must pay now under most existing plans.
– Fixing the broken Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program by proposing a rule that borrowers who have worked at a non-profit, in the military, or in federal, state, tribal, or local government, receive appropriate credit toward loan forgiveness.
– Protect future students and taxpayers by reducing the cost of college and holding schools accountable when they hike up prices. Biden said he will continue to fight to double the maximum Pell Grant and make community college free. He said the Department of Education will announe new efforts to ensure student borrowers get value for their college costs.

The administration said more information on claiming relief will be available to borrowers in the coming weeks and that borrowers can sign up to be notified when this information is available at: StudentAid.gov/debtrelief.