Senate bill includes $33.5M for Medicaid on LI

In a bill approved by the U.S. Senate Thursday, Long Island would receive $33.5 million in the six-month extension of the Medicaid funding boost enacted in last year's federal stimulus bill, Sen. Charles Schumer said Thursday.

Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a telephone news conference that the bill is expected to win passage in the House, which has been called back to vote on the measure Tuesday. The bill also includes some $607 million for New York State to reduce teacher layoffs.

"The money is as good as being there," Schumer said of the bill he sponsored, "[and] New York stands to win big."

If the bill is approved, the state will get a total of about $2.5 billion in Medicaid and teacher funding.

Schumer said Suffolk would receive $17.2 million in additional Medicaid funding, while Nassau would get $16.2 million.

While Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano is planning tentatively for $20 million in additional Medicaid funds in his upcoming 2011 budget, he nonetheless expressed pleasure at the new money announced Thursday. Mangano, who participated in the news conference, praised Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) for "fighting to deliver . . . funds for Nassau County."

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The Senate bill, passed Thursday by a vote of 61-39, contains a total of some $10 billion in aid to school districts and $16 billion to help states fund their Medicaid budgets. The vote Tuesday in the Democrat-controlled House is aimed at providing the money in time for many school districts to reconsider teacher layoffs.

Advocates said it could save the jobs of up to 300,000 teachers, police and other public workers nationwide; in New York, the new education money would help schools avert more than 7,000 layoffs, according to the U.S. Department of Education. But to save those jobs, the state will have to allow school districts to reopen their budgets and teachers will have to be rehired quickly.

A county-by-county breakdown of the education-aid money has not yet been done, Schumer said.

Supporters said the new Medicaid money could help states free money for other budget priorities such as avoiding tax increases and preserving the jobs of state employees.

However, some Republicans have complained about the level of spending in the bill.

"Stop with the bailouts, tax hikes and special interest giveaways," said Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.).

With The Associated Press