Nassau Democrats won't back borrowing requests until Blakeman releases millions of dollars in earmarks

Democrats in the Nassau Legislature said Wednesday they will block Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman's requests to borrow money for big, countywide infrastructure projects, a last resort to get discretionary funding promised for their communities. 

While Republicans hold a 12-7 majority in the legislature, Blakeman needs a supermajority of 13 votes to approve finance requests for larger countywide projects such as road repair. The Blakeman administration did not immediately respond to calls and emails seeking comment. The move marks the second time Democrats in the chamber have used that bargaining chip as a form of leverage under the Blakeman administration.

Minority Leader Legis. Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) said millions of dollars promised earlier this year to pay for community needs, from new turnout gear for volunteer firefighters in Port Washington to clean drinking water in Hempstead, remain "locked" by the Blakeman administration in favor of projects in districts represented by Republican legislators. 

"The Democratic caucus will not support the county executive to borrow one more dime," DeRiggi-Whitton said at a Wednesday news conference. "... We are really serious about this."

Democrats intend to block borrowing until Blakeman honors the funding requests their legislators have already agreed on with the administration, releases more federal funding for Hempstead's clean drinking water project, and provides a written commitment for all future capital plans with a timeline for funding, DeRiggi-Whitton said. 

Before the funding gets disbursed, these community projects require the Blakeman administration to sign off on intermunicipal agreements, which hasn't happened in Democratic districts, holding up the projects, DeRiggi-Whitton said. 

The conflict comes as funding requests for the administration's capital plan are likely to be filed ahead of the county's budget season. Nassau's executive budget proposal is due in October. 

A major part of the contention is over $15 million allocated earlier this year for community initiatives that Democrats had asked to be divided equally among the 19 legislative districts. More than $4 million has been spent on districts with Republican legislators, according to a list Democrats gave to Newsday.

Democrats this year have not had any of their funding requests fulfilled, they said, despite the money coming from a larger pot of $385 million the county received from the federal government through the pandemic-era American Rescue Plan Act that President Joseph Biden signed into law in March 2021. 

Presiding Officer Legis. Howard Kopel (R-Lawrence) on Wednesday said Democrats "need to work that out with the administration." 

"When their [Democrats'] spending projects reach the legislature the majority intends to support them," Kopel said. "This has nothing to do with us." 

Legis. Scott Davis (D-Rockville Centre) said he was assured by Kopel that the funding was going to be distributed in an equitable way. Davis, who represents Hempstead, is waiting on $1.7 million to bring back to his district to aid in a $50 million project to remove toxins from the village's drinking water. 

"Despite numerous requests we have not received any type of transparent process on how we can obtain those resources for our communities," Davis said.

Holding up borrowing has worked for Nassau Democrats in the past. 

The caucus under former Minority Leader Legis. Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) blocked the approval of hundreds of millions of dollars in capital borrowing for nearly two years beginning in 2015 to force the GOP to hire an inspector general to review vendor contracts.

The legislature unanimously approved a bill creating an inspector general's office in December 2017 as then-County Executive Edward Mangano and his wife, Linda, faced federal corruption charges over bribes from a county vendor.

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.