NEW YORK NEEDS A MARSHALL PLAN TO SOLVE MIGRANT CRISIS: HERE IT IS
OPINION: GOOD LEADERS NEVER LET A GOOD CRISIS GO TO WASTE
Photo Credit: Kevin P. Coughlin / Office of the Governor via Flickr. Inset: Gen. George C. Marshall and Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1943.
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The first rule for leaders facing a crisis is don’t let it go to waste. Turn it into something good. Think big, bold and in multi-billion dollar numbers.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has forgotten this basic principle of crisis management in her tepid response to the migrant crisis facing New York City. Instead of proposing a bold solution everyone hates equally, she's indulging in an orgy of blame with other Democrats.
The Hochul Administration says its ready to resettle migrants around the state, but its recently-formulated Migrant Relocation Assistance Program is a measly $25 million boondoggle. It has not relocated a single migrant to date, according to the NY Focus news blog.
Even if it worked, Hochul's program is a landlord's wet dream. That's because it relies on finding private houses and apartments for migrants to rent and gives them vouchers to pay for it. The scheme would drive up rents from the Bronx to Buffalo. New Yorkers all over the state are already facing a worsening shortage of affordable housing, and Hochul's so-called “plan” would make it worse.
What Gov. Hochul needs to do is formulate a comprehensive, state-wide response that doesn't involve lining landlords' pockets. It should begin with a Marshall Plan-style affordable housing building blitz in every single one of New York's 62 counties.
The housing, it needs to be stressed, is not migrant housing. It's for any New Yorker who applies and meets the financial requirements. In fact, to prevent the creation of migrant ghettoes, and facilitate by-in by local officials and residents, the percentage of migrants admitted needs to be limited to a fixed percentage determined by negotiation between the governor, legislative leaders and local stakeholders. The rest are local residents or even New York City residents eager for a change of scenery.
Housing is only part of the problem. Besides housing, the state, counties and towns are going to have to collaborate on building out social services infrastructure, including hospitals and schools. There's going to be a wide-spread need for translators, teachers, school bus drivers, IT people, doctors and nurses—trades which are already affected by a worker shortage in some parts of the state.
Transportation is another piece of the puzzle. Many migrants will likely be reluctant to leave New York City given how hard it can be to get back to it to visit or meet with family and friends. The decision to leave might be made easier if there was a fast, reliable, state-wide public transport system of trains and buses. The spine of the system should be hi-speed rail. Electric vehicle charging stations could be built into each station.
In the interim, the state can pay Amtrak to run more trains and stand up bus service centered on existing stations.
While the State is building out its transportation infrastructure for the rest of the 21st Century, it should also build a free, public state-wide hi-speed Internet system too. Water and sewer systems everywhere are also going to have to be modernized and beefed-up to handle not just more people but climate change.
To build all this, and build it fast, the state needs workers.
Fortunately, the migrants themselves are a ready, available labor pool. The state should put the migrants to work under the authority of a state agency—whether the federal government issues them work permits or not. It should train them in construction trades and let them build homes—homes for themselves and for all impoverished New Yorkers. Those who can’t or don’t want to do construction work, can train to do one of the other migrant-specific, essential jobs.
This way, migrants are more likely be welcomed throughout the state for giving something back, or at least taking care of themselves, instead of feared or hated for perceived taking.
Since the State is putting migrants to work, it needs to figure out a way to put the 2.3 million New Yorkers with criminal records fully back to work too. Currently, their criminal records consign them to a life of sporadic or marginal employment and poverty.
Lastly, even if Gov. Hochul can wrangle the state legislature to agree on bold, state-wide action, they still have to figure out a way to fund it. A state bond act is one way. But Albany's still going to need a proverbial "shit ton" of cash from the Federal government. Good thing the Federal government can print as much as any state, including the Empire State, needs. The Federal government created this problem, it needs to pay to fix it for every state affected.
Pres. Joe Biden can't hide his head in the sand anymore and ignore the fact his administration is killing state and local budgets, polarizing the citizenry (against Democrats) and potentially driving up rents everywhere. He’s going to have to compromise with Republicans to get the funding needed. Republicans are going to demand he close the southern border. For the welfare of the Nation, he should agree.
If he doesn’t, every migrant in the world is going to want to come to New York to participate in its grand Progressive experiment. Many will probably find a way to come anyway. Let that be a sign of its success.
I'm not a politician, but its obvious there's a lot of work to do and the politicians are finger-pointing instead of talking. Here’s a blue print to get things started.
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