New York’s Excluded Workers Fund is Running Out of Cash

In April of this year, New York created a first-in-the-nation “Excluded Workers Fund,” allocating $2.1 billion to provide cash relief to New Yorkers, primarily undocumented immigrants, who were unable to access previous rounds of state and federal COVID-19 relief.

Now, in the face of unexpected demand and a high approval rate, the funds are running out. More than 335,000 people have submitted applications for funds, and thousands more submit applications each day. But about $1.8 billion has already been disbursed or promised to the 116,000 applicants approved so far, leaving just $300 million for the rest.

The Department of Labor warned on Monday that the fund could be closed to new applicants as soon as Wednesday. The fund was still accepting applications as of Wednesday afternoon, but the department’s website said that “Soon new applications will no longer be accepted.”

And while the Department has guaranteed full payment of all approved applications submitted before September 24, payment of the tens of thousands of applications submitted after that date—and those that continue to be submitted—is uncertain.

Among the New Yorkers who may miss out on relief payments is Afshana Pervin, a single mother and undocumented Bangladeshi immigrant from Jamaica, Queens, who has lived in the U.S. for twenty-six years.

After losing her job as a caterer due to the pandemic, Pervin joined the coalition fighting for the creation of the Excluded Workers Fund, and went on hunger strike for three days leading up to its enactment.

But due to her lack of formal identification, she has so far found herself shut out from the fund she fought to create.

“I have not been able to apply for the Excluded Worker Fund, because I am still waiting on my passport from the Bangladeshi consulate. They told me it’ll take anywhere from two to four more months,” she said through an interpreter at a rally held Tuesday in New York City’s Washington Square Park.

By the time Pervin obtains the passport, the fund’s coffers may be empty.

Pervin and other undocumented workers, along with their advocates and allies in the state legislature, are pushing for a fresh infusion to the fund to ensure all applicants receive the full amount they’re eligible for. Vanessa Agudelo, a member of the Fund Excluded Workers Coalition’s steering committee, said the coalition hasn’t yet put forward an estimate of how much this would cost, but that it would be in the billions.

Some observers charge that the fund’s depletion is a result of poor management of the initial $2.1 billion. A Daily News editorial criticized state administrators for granting virtually all approved applicants so far the maximum amount of relief, rather than lower amounts, noting that the decision is “set to leave thousands of eligible workers with diddly squat.”

The fund was one of the most contentious items in the 2021 budget. About thirty Democrats in the state Assembly—nearly a third of the body’s Democrats—held a private meeting shortly before the budget was voted on to discuss their concerns with the fund, the Capitol Pressroom reported.

But now that the program is underway, some initial critics said they were open to its expansion. Assemblymember Tom Abinanti (D-Westchester), who was a target of activists’ ire for withholding support for the fund during budget negotiations, told New York Focus that he supports an expansion if additional money is necessary to meet demonstrated need.

“I think that we have to properly fund all of the programs that we put forward from the budget. And if there’s insufficient money for any of them—and that includes the excluded workers and the rent [assistance] programs—then we need to put more money in,” Abinanti said.

“We set up a program. It’s unfair to say that the first people in are the ones who get the money, and the others who did not get in don’t get the money,” he added.

Other lawmakers reported to have opposed or raised doubts about the fund, including Amy Paulin (D-Westchester), John McDonald (D-Albany), and Phil Steck (D-Albany County), declined to comment or did not respond to inquiries.

A spokesperson for Governor Kathy Hochul lauded the progress of the fund, but did not address questions about whether the governor supports expanding it.

“Within the next few weeks, more than $2 billion, the maximum amount authorized by the State legislature, will have reached the pockets of hardworking families across the state. The Governor remains focused on helping our most vulnerable communities as we continue to rebuild and recover from the pandemic,” said Hochul press secretary Hazel Crampton-Hays.

A High Approval Rate

When it was created in April, the fund included a two-tiered system for accessing cash benefits. Workers with the ability to provide formal attestation of employment or tax processing information were to be eligible for up to $15,600 in cash benefits, while those unable to do so would be eligible for $3,200.

The tiered system was pushed by then-Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administrationand opposed by the fund’s proponents, who worried that many people in need of relief would be unable to access the first tier.

In the months since, however, both applications and approvals for the first tier have dramatically outpaced expectations. In April, the Fiscal Policy Institute, a liberal think tank that was part of the coalition advocating for the fund, estimated that 92,000 New Yorkers would qualify for the first tier and 199,000 would qualify for the second, which would have resulted in a total budget just short of the allocated $2.1 billion.

But the Department of Labor has so far granted the higher level of relief to over 99% of approved applicants—more than 115,000 New Yorkers.