Talk about putting lipstick on a pig! A raid is a raid, and a quarter billion dollars in public money should not be bandied about behind closed doors without proper public scrutiny and oversight. Governor Cuomo knows the federal government can and will very likely claw back any portion of this raid that does not meet the strict standards of their intended purposes. No executive, in New York or elsewhere in the country, should be empowered to unilaterally repurpose funds dedicated to our communities for their own pet projects.

Statement re: Clean Water Raid by Executive Director Peter Iwanowicz

“Talk about putting lipstick on a pig! A raid is a raid, and a quarter billion dollars in public money should not be bandied about behind closed doors without proper public scrutiny and oversight. Governor Cuomo knows the federal government can and will very likely claw back any portion of this raid that does not meet the strict standards of their intended purposes. No executive, in New York or elsewhere in the country, should be empowered to unilaterally repurpose funds dedicated to our communities for their own pet projects.

Governor Cuomo, Speaker Silver and Senator DeFrancisco failed New York. Using clean water funds to build a bridge is not creative leadership, it is behaving like a kid in a candy store. And we are no closer to knowing the Governor’s math for this loan or this bridge than we were a month ago.

We believe the Administration’s secretive actions are in direct violation of state law. In addition to the potential loss of federal funds, Environmental Advocates and 11 other organizations are requesting the Public Authorities Budget Office to investigate the actions of the Environmental Facilities Corporations to ensure state law was followed at every turn.”

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