Three Democrat-led funding requests have advanced in the Republican-majority Nassau County Legislature, signaling the ending of a monthslong partisan divide in which dozens of similar allocations have not come up for a vote, officials said.
Under Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, his GOP colleagues in the legislature have had 20 requests to fund various initiatives in their districts approved. But of 27 funding requests that Democratic legislators made for their districts, only one has made its way to the floor for a vote in September — $1.75 million for the Village of Hempstead to treat their hazardous drinking water. And even that was hard-fought, Nassau County Legislature Alternate Deputy Minority Leader Siela Bynoe (D-Westbury) said at the time.
“We’re here to serve our communities, and they deserve the same thing as every other community,” Legislator Seth Koslow (D-Merrick) said at the legislature’s Oct. 21 meeting. “There’s no excuse that we … are over 27 [CRPs] with a million dollars that we want for first responders and public safety that has not made it to the legislature.”
Seven Republican-led requests for funds totaling $674,000 were approved by both parties at that meeting. But more than $1 million earmarked for Democrat-led districts still had not made its way to the floor for a vote, despite some requests going back as far as 2019.
The Blakeman administration decides which requests are brought to the floor for a vote.
Of the three Democrat-led requests now moving forward in the legislative process, one would provide the Mid-Island Y Jewish Center — a nonprofit focused on fostering Jewish identity and community — with up to $950,000 to recover funds lost because of the pandemic. Another would provide Rising Stars — a nonprofit that promotes education and character-building for kids through basketball — with up to $100,000 to recover losses sustained during the pandemic and fortify its capacity to service surrounding communities. And the third aims to support food pantries on Long Island, but has not yet been filed while the administration is sorting out the details, according to county spokespeople.
Bruce Blakeman and the Nassau County Majority Caucus did not respond to the Press for comment.
Hyperlocal funding for districts primarily comes from two sources: the Community Revitalization Program, or CRP, and the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA. CRP funding comes from the county, and each district is allocated $300,000 each year. President Joe Biden signed ARPA into office in 2021 to provide federal stimulus money to state and local governments amid the pandemic. Nassau received $15 million, which legislators can allocate as they see fit.
The three Democrat-led funding requests filed by the Blakeman administration — the $1.75 million for Hempstead’s water supply in September, and recently the funds for Mid-Island Y Jewish Center and the Rising Stars Foundation — have all been ARPA funds. While Democrat-led districts still have had zero CRP requests make their way to the floor as opposed to Republicans’ 20, county Dems are hopeful that the Blakeman administration’s willingness to move these ARPA funds along is a sign of more bipartisanship to come.
