FREEwilliamsburg: Bush tries to shortchange New York, um, again

From AP
WASHINGTON -- New York has yet to spend some $125 million for workers injured in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack and its aftermath, and the federal government doesn't want to wait any longer. It wants the money back.
New York lawmakers are trying to hold onto the funding ahead of a House committee meeting next week to consider re-claiming the funds as proposed by the Bush administration's budget for fiscal year 2006.

A group of 21 New York lawmakers, including state Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer, both D-N.Y., is urging the White House to redirect the money toward health programs for ground zero workers affected with long-term lung problems that may not appear for years to come. The administration has resisted.

The dispute dates to the aftermath of the 2001 terror attack, when the government agreed to give more than $20 billion to help New York recover. The money included some $175 million for the state's workers compensation program, but as the claims were processed the bulk of the money was unspent.

A 2004 report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, found the state spent $44 million to pay out money quickly through other state agencies. Another $4.4 million was spent upgrading the compensation board's computer system to prepare for a possible future disaster.

That left about $125 million unspent, because the compensation board has not paid out huge sums for Sept. 11-related claims. In the case of $25 million set aside for rescue workers who came to New York from out of town, the board had paid just $456,000 by mid-2004.

White House Office of Management and Budget spokesman Scott Milburn said New York has used only $49 million of the $175 million and spent just $6 million in the 2004 fiscal year.

"The needs were not as large as initially feared," he said.

He said the federal government has exceeded President Bush's pledge of providing $20 billion in aid in the form of cash and tax incentives to New York.

Rep. James Walsh, R-N.Y., argued the government is moving too fast to retrieve the money.

"We don't know yet what the need is, nor does OMB," Walsh said. "What we do know is that there was a witches' brew of toxic substances emanating from that debris and those firefighters, police officers and construction workers were breathing that for days."

He has asked the GAO to look further into the injury claims to determine what the unmet health needs are.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a Manhattan Democrat who has long argued New York did not get enough help, said, "The real shame is that too many people in Washington still don't realize that thousands of injured 9/11 responders still desperately need our help."

The state received 10,182 claims for workers comp but did not tell the GAO how many claims it denied, saying it did not keep such figures.

New York AFL-CIO president Denis Hughes said the government's plan ignores the likelihood that people can apply years later for compensation for Sept. 11-related injuries.

"They offered New York $20 billion, and now these guys are fighting over $120 million? It's sad," he said. "They have forgotten the magnitude of this tragedy."

Dr. Robin Herbert, of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, said their World Trade Center program has seen over 9,000 patients through a federally funded health screening program.

Much of the treatment of the ailments, though, is dependent on donations, she said.

"Right now we are able to provide treatment with philanthropic funding, but are troubled that there's no other resource," said Herbert.

The state also opposes the government's plan to take back the money.

"New York should retain this critical funding," said Gov. George Pataki's spokesman Todd Alhart.

"We want to ensure it is available to address any workers comp-related claims to those who courageously responded and provided assistance in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks," Alhart said.

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