Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has announced that members of New York’s Congressional Delegation — Representative Nydia Velázquez, Representative Thomas Suozzi, Representative Carolyn Maloney, Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Representative Gregory Meeks, Representative Grace Meng, Representative Eliot Engel, Representative Paul Tonko, Representative José Serrano, Representative Joe Morelle, Representative Adriano Espaillat and Representative Yvette Clarke — will propose the ‘Americans First Law’ to prevent corporate bailouts following the COVID-19 pandemic. First proposed by Cuomo on May 10, the law states that a corporation cannot be eligible to receive government funding if it doesn’t maintain the same number of employees that the corporation had before the COVID-19 pandemic.
During his daily briefing Tuesday, Cuomo said: “I’ll tell you today what the new scam is going to be. The new scams is going to be these corporations are going to use this pandemic to lay off workers. That is what they’re going to do. They’re already saying it. They do these analyst calls where they tell the analysts why their stock value is going to go up. What they’re saying is we’re not going to hire the same amount of workers. We’re going to rehire fewer workers, our profit margin goes up, our dividend goes up, our stock value goes up.
“Yeah, except the American workers are left on the beach. That’s what they are going to do. Mark my words today. I want to propose a law that’s very simple: Americans First. Americans first. Not America first, Americans first. Protect the worker. Corporation wants a bail out? Corporation wants money? Fine. But if you do not rehire the same number of employees, give the money back. If you do not rehire the same number of employees, no government gift and bail out for you. That’s the Americans First law. Very simple but undeniable.
“I’ve spoken to a number of members of the Congressional delegation for New York. They’re going to propose the ‘Americans First’ law. No bail out boondoggles. “
