WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) ─ In his third visit to the White House during the coronavirus pandemic, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told President Donald Trump that now is the time to tackle America’s infrastructure needs.
As the nation looks for ways to recover, Cuomo said New York, like much of the nation – desparately needs better roads, bridges and tunnels.
“When is there going to be a better moment in history to do it?” he questioned. “You’re spending billions and trillions of dollars to handle COVID-19 and bring back the economy – at least build things that we can leave our children.”
Cuomo said its a solution that has worked before.
“We did it in the midst of the [Great] Depression the government created 8 million jobs, we built an infrastructure we’re still living on today,” he said.
While in Washington D.C., Cuomo called on Republicans in Congress to provide aid to the state and local governments dealing with COVID-19.
“They say ‘Why should we give states money to deal with COVID-19?’ What? ‘Why should we give states money to deal with COVID-19?’ Why not? What better national purpose?” Cuomo said.
While another coronavirus relief bill is expected, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said Tuesday that it will be much more focused.
“In my view it ought to be very carefully targeted to correct the mistakes that we certainly made in passing a multi-trillion-dollar bill in one week,” McConnell said.
Cuomo maintains that a national recovery isn’t possible without helping local governments first.
