Schumer Tries to Steer Stimulus Money to MTA and DOE

Senator Charles Schumer was sounding like a savior today for two agencies recently experiencing major budget woes: the Department of Education and the MTA. Schumer indicated that $1.8 billion of the stimulus bill that arrived in the Senate today should be heading toward city schools saying, "If they were to use that money to prevent massive layoffs of teachers, that would be the intention of what the money is for and that's a good thing." The mayor did not take any stimulus money toward education for granted in last Friday's "Doomsday budget." Schumer also proposed an amendment to the $819 billion stimulus package, calling for money going toward transit to nearly double the allocated amount to around $15 billion. While that money could not go toward the MTA's budget deficit that will likely lead to a fare increase, it could be used towards maintenance and new projects like the Second Avenue Subway.