World Trade Center Health Program funding: FDNY labor leaders call for a fix after it's cut from federal spending bill

FDNY labor leaders on Sunday called on politicians in Washington, D.C. to restore permanent funding to the World Trade Center Health Program that was cut from the spending bill signed into law Saturday.

The program provides care for more than 132,000 firefighters, police and other first responders, in addition to residents and others in lower Manhattan, who have contracted illnesses from toxins at Ground Zero after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

Funding for the program was believed to be permanent as part of the proposed bipartisan legislation until last week when President-elect Donald Trump announced his opposition to the bill.

"This is not a New York City problem," said Andrew Ansbro, president of the FDNY Firefighters Association of Greater New York, in front of FDNY Ten House on Liberty Street, the first firehouse to respond to the terrorist attack.

"It’s America’s problem," Ansbro said. "9/11 affected everybody."

He continued: "We all made the promise to ‘Never forget.’ Never forget was a promise made by the American people to look after the people who answered the call that day. So we’re calling on the administration that’s coming in, we’re calling on the senators and congresspeople who’ve made their promises, to honor what everyone has said, to never forget."

The bill, originally proposed at 1,547 pages, was cut to 116 pages. The fix for the health program would have addressed a $3 billion projected shortfall set to begin in 2027. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) had worked to attach the funds for the program to the bill.

A spokesperson for Trump's transition team did not immediately respond Sunday to an email from Newsday seeking comment on requests to restore the funding.

Newsday on Thursday had reported that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), the lead sponsors of the legislation, celebrated the fix, which would have changed the funding formula to increase benefits.

"Most bills that are passed in Congress are to make people’s lives better," said James Brosi, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association. "This would’ve been passed so people’s lives could’ve been longer, so that while they’re diagnosed with the most horrific cancers, they might have some dignity and quality of life in the process."

Garbarino told Newsday after the vote Friday that while he was "frustrated by the absence of 9/11 health funding and other important provisions that were included in the initial [spending package], I voted for the final package to keep the government open for the next three months, prevent a lapse in government resources, and ensure that our troops, Border Patrol agents, and tens of thousands of federal employees living on Long Island would not have to go without pay over the holidays."

Ansbro said he had been invited to Washington, D.C., last week by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to celebrate funding for the bill through 2040. He then attended a nearby portrait unveiling of Carolyn Maloney, the former House member from Manhattan, who had been a proponent of 9/11 relief.

"We were in there with other senators and congresspeople, honoring her for her work," Ansbro said of Maloney. "Unbeknownst to us, several rooms away in Congress, they were taking apart the bill."

Ansbro said he hopes to meet with Trump in the new year. He said he would continue to hold politicians accountable until the program was restored.

"The incoming administration was given a mandate, the incoming politicians and those returning, were given America a mandate to make America great again," he said. "We know you cannot make America great again if you leave behind those that are sick and those that are dying that answered the call on 9/11."

Gov. Kathy Hochul on X condemned Republicans for removing the funding.

"Never forget" aren’t just words in New York. They’re a promise," Hochul wrote. "Get back into the Capitol and do. Your. Job."

John Feal, of Nesconset, a first responder who was injured at Ground Zero and is a 9/11 advocate, cautioned against what would happen if the funding was not restored.

"If you have a new illness, it's not going to get taken care of," Feal said. "If you're getting your medication in the mail every month, it might come every three months. If you have an appointment every three months, it might be once a year. Then the doctors and the nurses will leave, because they need job security."

Still, Feal expressed confidence the program will survive. He noted this was not the first time he has endured pushback in Congress. In 2019, he successfully pushed for the renewal of funding for the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund, alongside comedian Jon Stewart. 

He said he plans to push for the bill to be attached to another, larger piece of legislation. 

"Don't underestimate us, because we haven't lost," Feal said. "I guarantee my one kidney we will have this done one day in the near future."

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.