The Federal Budget: Spending, Taxes, and Debt

Bidenomics Slush Fund Subsidizes NYC Trash – Literally

The Federal Budget: Spending, Taxes, and Debt Policy Rapid Response BlogJuly 9, 2024 By Brittany Madni

Introduction

The Bidenomics Slush Fund is being used to subsidize the “Waste Collection and Removal” project in New York City.

NYC Unveils Trash Bins

This week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams unveiled a new program in the metropolis: using trash bins to contain garbage bags.

Apparently, the idea of putting garbage in bins instead of leaving it to fester in the streets is “revolutionary” to New Yorkers. So revolutionary, in fact, that the city paid McKinsey $4 million to study this problem.

But where is this money coming from?

It turns out, much of the “trash revolution” in New York City is being funded directly by federal taxpayers through Bidenomics.

Bidenomics Slush Fund

The Bidenomics Slush Fund (officially the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds under the American Rescue Plan Act) has a proven history of misappropriating and wasting taxpayer dollars.

For example, EPIC has previously uncovered that this $350 billion slush fund has been used to subsidize golf courses and pickleball courts, illegal immigration, vaccine lotteries, and local bureaucrats.

The lastest EPIC discovery: the Bidenomics Slush Fund is being used to subsidize the “Waste Collection and Removal” project in New York City.

Subsidizing NYC Trash Bins

Based on Treasury’s own data, the Biden Administration approved $1,048,660,642 for the NYC garbage project. That’s well over $1 billion in COVID funding being spent on NYC’s trash.

NYC Waste SLFRF Project 1 — _{Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury}

The massively expensive project is considered “revenue replacement” under the ARPA category that allows COVID money to be spent on the local governments’ non-health care related priorities.

In this case, the SLFRF project “supports the collection of litter from neighborhood baskets and transport of the City’s waste to various landfills and incinerators and allows for an increase in dedicated litter basket service by more than 100 trucks per week.”

In other words, federal taxpayers are paying over a billion dollars for new trash bins and more regular trash collection for New Yorkers.

Continued Pandemic Spending

This is happening under the guise of COVID spending. Of course, the pandemic emergency has been long over. Even the official federal public health emergency for COVID-19 ended May 11, 2024 – well over a year ago.

According to the most recently available data from Treasury, released in December 2023, only $448,660,642 has been spent so far of the $1,048,660,642 Treasury approved for the project.

That means $600,000,000 is still being spent out on this trash project. Long past the pandemic’s end – and on a program that has almost no tie to COVID-19.

Congress Should Rescind the SLFRF

Congress should rescind all unobligated balances from the Bidenomics Slush Fund.

While much of this funding has already been misappropriated, Congress has the ability to stop more of it from going out the door to garbage like this.

Author

Brittany A. Madni

Executive Vice President

Brittany A. Madni is the Executive Vice President of the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC). She served as a Congressional aide and trusted senior advisor for a decade on Capitol Hill, developing a nuanced understanding of the legislative process with an emphasis on budget and appropriations strategy. Prior to joining EPIC, Madni was Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director for Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (R-IA). Madni helped Rep. Hinson start her office in 2021, where she was instrumental in developing the Congresswoman’s policy priorities and spearheading her work on the House Appropriations Committee. Before serving with Rep. Hinson, Madni served as a senior policy advisor at the U.S. House Budget Committee under Congressman Steve Womack (R-AR) and Congressman Diane Black (R-TN). There, she managed the health and tax policy functions, as well as oversight of the Congressional Budget Office. During her tenure on the Committee, she played a critical role in developing the 2017 Republican health reform bill, along with several enacted federal budgets. Madni also served as first Legislative Director for Congressman Troy Balderson (R-OH), where she helped shape the then-freshman Congressman’s policy platforms and built his legislative team. She began her time as Congressional staff working for Congressman Tom McClintock (R-CA), where she handled budget and health care policy, among other issues. Madni’s first jobs in Washington were a series of internships on Congressional committees, where she assisted with oversight of the administration. Madni holds an M.P.S. in legislative affairs from The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management and a B.A. in English and political science from Boston College. Originally from Florida, she now lives in Virginia with her husband, their son, and their dog, Pepper.