Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday challenged United States Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to introduce legislation in Congress making it legal for states to declare bankruptcy.
McConnell suggested bankruptcy earlier in the week for states like New York that have been hard hit by the coronavirus shutdown. Cuomo called that "one of the really dumb ideas of all time" and suggested it would crash the national economy if states like New York, Michigan and Illinois were allowed to declare bankruptcy.
Friday Governor Cuomo doubled down, calling on McConnell "pass the law, I dare you...send that signal to the markets."
Cuomo has repeatedly said state governments need federal support if they're supposed to be responsible for reopening business and schools from the coronavirus shutdown. Cuomo says New York is now an estimated $13.3 Billion behind on its expected revenues because of the shutdown, or 14 percent of what it expected to have available. Meanwhile the state has been spending on health care and other needs because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Governor Cuomo says new hospitalizations remain at about 1,200 per day...while the number of deaths per 24 hours is declining very slowly at 422.
Cuomo said with hindsight, he was too late in closing down New York. He says experts now believe New York probably had 10,000 cases of COVID-19 by February, and that it came from Europe, specifically Italy. Cuomo says 2.2 million travelers flew from Europe to New York City in January and February.
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