Announcer: Listener-supported WNYC studios. [music]

Brian Lehrer: It's the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning everyone. It's time to call your Senator. Once a month, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand comes on with us to talk about what she and the Senate are doing and to take your calls. New Yorkers call your Senator and anyone else may call too. Just bear in mind that this is different from say our Ask The Mayor segment, where we take calls on New York city government business. Your calls today will be for a US Senator, so they should be relevant to what Congress or the federal government is doing, or to national politics or constituent services that a Senator might be able to offer. 646-435-7280. Call Your Senator with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. 646-435-7280, Senator Gillibrand. We always appreciate it. Welcome back to WNYC.

Kirsten Gillibrand: Oh, my pleasure Brian.

Brian: The Labor Department reported today that another 880,000 people filed for unemployment last month or last week, I should say and the country is still waiting for the next Coronavirus relief bill, including enhanced unemployment benefits after the $600 addition expired a month ago now, but Congress and the White House can't agree on terms. I did read that there are new talks between treasury secretary Mnuchin and Congressional leaders. Can you give us any update?

Kirsten: I have to say I'm pretty frustrated. I've been traveling the state and meeting with food banks and service organizations that are trying to help the people that are really in need. I can tell you there's so many people who are out of work. They don't have enough money to put food on the table. Some schools won't reopen in person so that's another meal that a child might miss. These negotiations are important but Mitch McConnell so far is unwilling to fund the basic things that people need. No money for cities and states, no money for food stamps, no money for the at-risk people in our communities, not enough money for unemployment. It's real stark difference between what Mitch McConnell thinks this country needs and what I'm seeing on the ground throughout New York.

Brian: Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo are sounding dire warnings about cuts to basic services in New York if the state and government funding portion of the house bill isn't approved but Senate Republicans are resisting state and government assistance. How are you as a Senator from New York talking about this through your Republican colleagues?

Kirsten: I was hoping that when they've been in their states over August, that they've heard from their communities, that they've heard from their Mayors and their Governor, that they see what I see. I mean, there's kids all across America who are going to bed hungry. There are teachers that are afraid to go back to work because there's no PPE, there's no money for cleaning the classrooms. There's no money to spread the kids out. Families are still out of work and so when you don't have money you can't pay for your rent. You can't pay for your food, you can't pay for the things that kids need. It's pretty crippling and I'm hoping that the senators heard from their communities like I did and I'm hoping they'll come to the table in good faith so far, McConnell has been unwilling his Skinny Bill is a disaster. It doesn't give any money for state and local aid which, again, if our Mayors and Governor has to cut more spending, it means more people will be unemployed. Then it means the discretionary spending, money for food banks, money for homeless shelters, money for domestic violence shelters will not be available and so those who are most at risk, most in need will continue to suffer.

Brian: The opposite of helping with the fiscal emergency in New York. I'm sure you saw that President Trump has now written a memo to his government agencies to try to remove existing federal funds. Now, for listeners who haven't heard this yet, as first reported in the New York Post and later confirmed by others the president signed a memo to Attorney General Barr that gives Barr 14 days to identify "Anarchist jurisdictions," where officials have "Permitted violence and the destruction of property to persist and have refused to undertake reasonable measures." The memo gives the government 30 days. That is Trump is giving his own agencies 30 days to direct "Heads of agencies on restricting eligibility off or otherwise this favoring to the maximum extent permitted by law and anarchist jurisdictions in the receipt of federal grants." The precedent singled out in New York city by name, plus Portland Seattle in Washington DC. My question for you, Senator Gillibrand is this just Donald Trump bluster, or do you see a real threat to existing federal funds for services in New York?

Kristen: I think it is a political ploy on Trump's part to distract voters. I think it's straight-up racism. He's continuing to divide the country and it's why I'm fighting so hard to make sure Joe Biden gets elected and we flip the Senate, but let's be clear that Trump does not have the authority to do this. He is trying to intrude on Congress's power of the purse. This would never stand up in court and I think people will really push back aggressively. It's not his purview. He does not have the authority to do what he says he's going to do. I'm sure Governors will push back and I'm certain they will file lawsuits. The truth is, again, this is just Trump's way of distracting people from what's happening around the country. People are suffering, they're out of work, they need support. They need more help to rid this country of COVID and he's not using any of the powers he has like the Defense production act to just guarantee universal testing. Why can't we have the swabs and the reagency manufactured here? Why can't we have rapid tests available for every school so every kid can be tested before they go back to school? These are the things he should be doing that he's refusing to do. He's literally just trying to distract America and continue to beat the drum of racism.

Brian: Let me get your reaction to what Governor Cuomo said about the presidential memo. He said this in the New York Times, "Everything that he Trump could possibly do in his power to hurt New York City, he has done." And Trump "Better have an army. If he thinks he's going to walk down the street in New York." I know the Governor was talking metaphorically with "Better having an army," just to indicate how popular Trump is here now but considering the faction of violence that is actually broken out in some places, should we call the governor's language irresponsible today?

Kristen: I think he just trying to show how outrageous Trump's statements are and how inappropriate they are. I'm obviously concerned that Trump continues to turn a blind eye to the need and the real problems that communities are facing. Mitch McConnell, I mean, he's the one who went so far as to say he thinks the state should go bankrupt. Both Trump and McConnell are the ones that are so deeply irresponsible. They're the ones who are trying to, again, distract the American people and people are in need and I find it so offensive that we can't just put more money for food stamps in the next COVID bill. That we can't just guarantee that people can stay safe. It's frustrating because they are lacking empathy and care for what's really happening in communities.

Brian: Let's take a phone call. Here's Jerry in Yonkers. Jerry on WNYC was Senator Gillibrand. Hi there.

Jerry: Good morning to both of you. I subscribed to a magazine called The Week, which in addition to listening to PBS and NYC really provides me with somewhat unbiased reporting of the news. Last week I received two copies of The Week and one day and then the next day I received a third copy, all different copies, a third copy which was now three weeks old. It was very visible to me. I'm not so much who concentrates on when my mail gets here, but since The Week timely, it really made an impact on me that the post office is really being delayed quite a bit. I think that's a federal issue. I wondered whether the Senator can pursue more vigorously with this person DeJoy, or what the levers of change are to get the post office back to being more efficient, especially since the election is coming up.

Brian: Senator.

Kristen: Thank you. That was an excellent question. That is exactly what Trump is doing. He's trying to harm the US Postal services. He has gone so far as cutting, mail sorting machines, getting rid of different post boxes around the country. He's been threatening to not fund the post office and Mitch McConnell is a willing participant and he's telling people that he's defunding the post office so that people can't vote-by-mail. He actually says the words out loud and that shows that he's just trying to change the outcome of the election. He's trying to rig the election in any way he can and he wants to harm the post office is the way to do it. I think DeJoy is a political hack who was put in place because he was a Republican donor. He knows nothing about the postal service. The postal service is supposed to be an apolitical job. It's not supposed to be a political perch for Trump accolades, but that's what Trump's made it. I've never post the postal service workers and they're not allowed to do overtime. Yes, I'm not surprised your weekly paper is being delayed. People's medicines are being delayed. Their social security checks are being delayed, things that are life and death, and make a difference in keeping people healthy and safe are being delayed. The truth is that Trump again puts himself first and above all others. He doesn't care about the effects of his actions. Some solutions we want to put at least $10 billion in the next COVID package to just create an infusion of resources into the post office so they can actually deliver the mail and run vote-by-mail appropriately come November. The long-term I have legislation to fix the postal system through postal banking. It's an idea whose time has come. We used to have postal banking from the early 1900s to the 1960s. It helped us recover from the great depression and after World War I and World War II. About a third of Americans are unbanked or underbanked because this current banking system just doesn't serve them, they don't have enough money. You could provide basic banking to a lot of Americans who need it. Especially during COVID with unemployment is high as it is, there's going to be a lot of other people who need these banking services and without it would be forced into the hands of predatory lenders and predatory practices. If we can basically provide checking and savings and microloans at the end of the month and mortgages to hardworking people and people out of work and people who are very low income, it makes a difference. They can not be abused by predators who are trying to take advantage of their poverty. That's a long-term solution and that helps because it raises $9 billion a year for post offices. There's 30,000 of them across the country in every community so it's a very elegant solution for a very difficult problems.

Brian: With the story that the caller tells of mail being delayed for weeks, does it put it in a different light that thing the president said to his supporters in North Carolina yesterday, that he's taking so much heat for he as you know advised people basically to vote twice to vote-by-mail and then go on election day and if your mail-in ballot got through then they'll see that you voted and they won't let you vote in person. I don't think that's how it works, but his argument was that because the mail-in ballots are unreliable in terms of arriving on time that was his provocative backup. With the threat of the mail-in ballots not arriving on time like Jerry's magazines, what's your recommendation to voters?

Kirsten: What he suggested is illegal and no one should vote twice. He's trying to create disruption in the election purposely misleading people. If you want to check to see if your vote-by-mail ballot was received you're supposed to go to the board of elections website. At least according to NPR Brian because that's what I heard on the news this morning

Brian: I guess I'm not entirely sure of whether the absentee ballots get counted after election day which is I think what happened in the New York primary this year or if they get counted as they are received. If they would even know on election day if your absentee ballot was received for you to check with the board of elections there may be a difference between received and counted.

Kirsten: Correct. They may be able to tabulate receipt without yet counting. It's a state issue because in some states apparently, you have to notify both campaigns what the count is. They wait till after because they don't want to make that public information before election day but there's been a movement to try to make it possible for people in different states to keep up with the votes. We'll see and I think every governor is trying to decide what to do for their elections. A lot of people do not want to vote in person because they don't want to risk getting COVID. In our country, we should not be asking voters to choose between their safety and their right to vote. Unfortunately, that's what President Trump's trying to do. I hope people do vote early and I hope they vote-by-mail or whatever makes them comfortable. I'm going to work as hard as I can in the Senate to strengthen the electoral system. We have bipartisan legislation right now to send money to the state to give them the resources that they need.

Brian: Bottom line only vote once, please?

Kirsten: Yes, absolutely. Apparently, New York does count after election day, but every state does it differently. Please only vote once because it's illegal to vote twice.

Brian: This is a loony tunes world we're living in right now. We have to sit here and say to each other for the sake of the public only vote once. Nicky in Brooklyn you're on WNYC. Hi Nicky.

Niki: Hi Brian. Hi Senator. This is Niki Russ Federman. I'm the fourth generation co-owner of Russ & Daughters here in New York, my family's 106-year-old Jewish food business. Senator, I want to thank you and Senator Schumer for signing onto co-sponsor the Restaurants Act, Brian for your listeners. The Restaurants Act is a bill that would create a $120 billion restaurant revitalization fund, that could save the 500,000 independent restaurants that have been so decimated by the pandemic. Thank you, Senator, but I'm wondering with the government coming back into session what you can do to press your colleagues to also sign on to the Restaurants Act without it we are facing the estimated loss of 85% of those 500,000 restaurants and that is 11 million jobs. The majority of which belong to people of color, single women our industry and our economy is just at the brink and the Restaurants Act could single-handedly drop the unemployment rate by 2.4% and have economic benefits of $270 billion. The potential benefits of this pillar are enormous.

Kisten: I agree. I studied the problem, I talked to a lot of restaurant tours all across the state and I worked with the groups on figuring out what would provide the least. That's why ultimately I cosponsored this bill because it will allow restaurants to begin to reopen and pay their employees and be able to make sure that a whole industry isn't destroyed. We want to reopen restaurants safely and that also takes resources because if they do reopen they're going to have to reopen with tables spread out. Obviously, more outdoor dining, and that all costs money. The restaurant act would go a long way. What I'm going to do when I get back to Washington next week is engage my Republican colleagues on different relief packages that can make a difference. With all the things we've discussed about hunger and unemployment, this bill makes a difference. Hopefully, they'll be interested and hopefully, they've heard from people in their own states about how difficult things are right now.

Brian: Niki thank you for your call. Good luck for there being four more generations of owners at Russ & Daughters. Do you have a position about indoor dining in New York City? Senator you know that's becoming increasingly contentious and even now with a lawsuit being filed by some restaurants.

Kirsten: This is obviously a decision that the governor and the mayor are wrestling with. I myself don't feel comfortable eating inside yet, but I do feel comfortable eating outside. I think the restaurants need the ability to reopen safely and they'll need to have distancing and they'll need to have PPE and they'll need to have resources for cleaning, but I think it's a tough call because people are eager to get back to work. So many people in our communities across the state are working in restaurants. Hopefully, we can do it safely. Unfortunately, some states opened restaurants early like Texas, Kentucky, and Florida and there was a lot of spiking of cases so it's hard. It's not an easy answer and we are trying very hard to keep our COVID numbers down so that schools can reopen and we can begin to reopen the economy. What I can do is pass legislation like the Restaurants Act so that these restaurants can stay afloat even when they're not yet reopened. I think safety is most important and what I can do is get the resources so they can survive if they can't reopen yet for safety reasons.

Brian: Before we get our food and onto other things, I see you're drawing attention to one food security program, in particular, that might expire at the end of this month. Can you talk about that, the P-EBT program?

Kirsten: Yes. I've been visiting food banks across the State. What I found is that the increased need for relief is massive. People are truly going to bed hungry and kids aren't getting their meals that they would normally get in schools. A lot of schools aren't going to reopen, or they're going to reopen part-time, days on days [inaudible 00:20:41] . Reduced price lunch or free lunch in many families is the best meal of the day for those kids in terms of nutrition and parents rely on it. If the parents are out of work right now through no fault of their own, they need the resources to feed their kids. There's a couple of things we could do. One there's the Pandemic EBT program, and we can increase the amount of money that goes into that program. Parents will get a card where they can buy food, even just increasing it by $5 a week would make a difference because that's enough to buy some of the staples to feed children in those meals that they're going to miss. We also want to increase food stamps so that people who are on food assistance will get a little more money because now they're feeding more meals at home because kids may not be going back because of remote learning. The need is crucial. This bill will put more money into both of these programs and it will help a lot of people. In New York alone, 2.1 million kids are eligible for the Pandemic EBT money. It could really create relief around the state and around the country.

Brian: If you just join us, it's our monthly Call Your Senator segment with New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Duke in Jersey city you're on WNYC with Senator Gillibrand. Hi, Duke.

Duke: Hi Brian, can you hear me?

Brian: Can hear you fine.

Duke: Okay. Hi, Senator Gillibrand.

Kirsten: Hi.

Duke: My question is about housing. I don't know how to actually formulate the question. I'm one of those people who were furloughed in the start of this in March. I've been collecting unemployment since that time. I'd imagine that's about to run out soon. We are now going into the winter months. As far as I'm concerned, the science on this COVID condition is not clear. It's not settled. You hear one thing from Dr. Fauci or the Sanjay Guptas and then you hear other things from other credible doctors from credible universities all over the world. The science as far as I'm concerned is not clear. I'm not ready to go out and look for a new job. First I'm in New Jersey, New York. It's going to be hard to find a job anyway. I'm scared to go out and look for a job through this winter. I'm thinking of what my options are. One of the things that I came up with discussing with some friends was buying a tiny home, a house on a trailer [crosstalk] -

Kirsten: Tiny house [unintelligible 00:23:36] . Those are pretty great.

Duke: Okay. Or an RV like a fifth wheel or something. My question is this, if you know, is that legal in New York State? Who would I contact to find out information about if that's legal, what counties it's legal in, and all the legal ramifications?

Brian: Really interesting question, Duke. I think something that a lot of people are not familiar with, Senator, it sounds like you are this concept of the tiny house.

Kirsten: Yes. Tiny house. It's anecdotal, so I don't know the real policy restrictions, but one thing that the CDC just did is they said that no one can be evicted through the end of the year. That gives a little bit of time for homeowners or renters to know that they can be safe and not homeless for the next few months.

Brian: It's not known to be clear. It's people in certain categories can't be evicted, just not to build up people's hopes beyond what the program really is.

Kirsten: You have to prove that it's COVID related, which is a strange framing. Hopefully, we will be able to prevent people from being evicted in New York through the end of the year. I think an RV is-- You need to find a place where you rent the space where you park your RV, there's RV parks. I had a great aunt who lived in an RV in Florida, which she loved. You have to find a place that you park it and you lease that space because you need access to electricity and water if it's your home. It's not as simple as you think, but it can be a lower-cost way to live. I don't know anything about the policies for tiny homes. I'd have to research that for you, which I'm happy to do offline for you after the call.

Brian: Duke, if you'd like, we'll put you on hold and you could leave your contact information and [unintelligible 00:25:53] will get back to you.

Kirsten: We'll help. To his bigger point that he's scared. No, everyone is scared. This is a very frightening time. For any person who's lost your job or been furloughed since March, I can't imagine how stressful that is for you because not having access to resources, not knowing when you'll get your next job, not knowing if the industry that you were furloughed from will ever be back on its feet. That's what New Yorkers are going through every day. I can tell you everyone's frightened and everyone's worried and the anxiety level in our state is unbelievable. Which is why I'm so angry at Mitch McConnell for being such a detached and callous person that he's unwilling to empathize with what's happening in this country. It's infuriating and it's exhausting because the pain and suffering in our state just as the caller described is so real. There's no end in sight. You can't even see what's around the corner. It's one of the reasons why Brian, our right to vote is so important because I hope everybody listening understands that the way out of this nightmare is changing who's in charge. It's flipping the US Senate and changing the presidency. We have to safeguard that boat. I'm going to try to do that, Senator Schumer is going to try to do that with resources, but I just hope everybody-- If you're going to vote by mail, ask for your ballot now and send it in early. Make sure your vote is counted in whatever way you want. I just think this is a moment in our history where we have to fight back and you do it through the ballot box. We have to protect our right to vote at all costs.

Brian: Senator, as you may know by now the latest city in which there are protests regarding a police-involved death is Rochester. This is after a video footage of a black man in police custody was released. 41 year old, Daniel Prude actually died in March, but this video is making people see it differently because it just got released. Let me read from the NPR story on this. It says Rochester police officers came upon prude as he was naked and in distress. Prude had allegedly just gone in on a destructive tear according to police reports, smashing out the windows of several storefronts and ranting about having the coronavirus. A passing tow truck driver who called 911 described Prude as being covered in blood. Then it goes on and eventually it says, "In time the 5 foot 10 inch, 230-pound man grew agitated. He began yelling vulgarities, spitting at officers and tried unsuccessfully to stand up. Officers ordered him several times to return to the prone position before placing a white hood over proves had known as a spit hood and intended to protect others from possible infection and he died. It says officers restrained Prude by holding him down by his feet and his head and applying pressure to Prude's back with a knee. Now, that this video really has been released Daniel Prude's brother, Joe Prude said yesterday, "I placed the phone call from my brother to get help, not for my brother to get lynched." Do you own opinion yet here about whether there was excessive use of force by the police?

Kirsten: I've only heard the news reports on this and I can tell you, I am so enraged and disturbed by what I'm hearing. First of all, this was a man with mental health issues. This goes to the heart of why people are so frustrated with current policing because there's not a humanitarian response, there's no option where you could call social services or mental health professionals to deal with this issue. They call the police. Unfortunately, we see too many instances where police are using excessive force and the excessive force ends in death. I'm very frustrated and very worried about where we are as a community, as a country. My heart goes out to this family. I mean, Daniel's family must be absolutely crushed that a man who had clear mental health issues was treated so poorly with such disregard by police officers who are responsible for protecting him.

Brian: Take one more call before we run out of time, Bill and Rigo Park, on WNYC with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Bill, you are a census enumerator, right?

Bill: I am a census enumerator, Brian, and that is one of my questions first. Senator, thank you for being a splendid public servant. I have two questions. One is, is there any hope that Congress will extend the census deadline from September 30 until the end of October? Second, is there anything Congress can do about President Trump's attempt to destroy social security by defunding it? Thank you.

Brian: Thank you. Yes, I think this is something that people should really know. We're planning a separate segment on it for probably next week, but the census enumeration period, which was supposed to last until the end of October, has been shortened by the Trump administration to only the end of September. This is the last month to get counted. If you have not yet gone to my2020census.gov that's how easy it is just go to my 2020census.gov. Then Bill in Rigo Park won't have to come and knock on your door. The census enumerators are now going out, in some cases, face to face for the shortened census season, which ends at the end of this month. I just wanted to make that really clear, Senator, and what would you say to Bill?

Kirsten: First of all, I don't think we can count on the census date being moved. President Trump has no incentive to do that, and again, he doesn't care. The census count matters. Everyone hear this call, you must fill out your census form, you go to 2020census.gov, and you fill out the census do it today. It's really important to do it today. The reason why it's so important is that it determines how much money the federal government gives our state. It determines the amount of money we get for health care or education or any program at all that has federal funding, almost all of its dependent on formulas that are based on population. So far, less than 60% of New York City households have responded. We have a long way to go, and there's just one month, so it ends September 30. You must fill your census form right away. It's how we are counted, and it's how we can get our fair share of resources so we can provide for people who are most at need and at risk.

Brian: Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, we always appreciate it. Talk to you next month and not before.

Kirsten: God bless you, Brian.

Copyright © 2020 New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use at www.wnyc.org for further information.

New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of New York Public Radio’s programming is the audio record.