Every year, Chuck commits to traveling to all62 counties in New York to meet with constituents.
A consistent champion for the Hudson Valley’s healthcare, frontline health care workers, and small businesses during the pandemic, Senate Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer, standing at Cornerstone Family Healthcare in Middletown, New York, unveiled his two-pronged plan to ramp up testing availability and domestic production of PPE, including N-95 masks, with the help of the Hudson Valley’s small businesses. First, Schumer demanded that the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) release the $9 billion for testing they are sitting on that Schumer secured for a national, coordinated, and robust testing regime. Second, Schumer revealed the Protect Our Heroes Act of 2020, which provides $11 billion for the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) to purchase critical PPE like N-95 masks and support small businesses in expanding domestic production of critical PPE. Specifically, the legislation provides $1 billion in federal, Small Business Administration (SBA) grants for small businesses to retool domestic facilities to produce critical PPE over the next two years. Schumer also said he intends to continue fighting for Hudson Valley communities, like the City of Middletown, across New York State as the newest wave emerges and as the next COVID relief deal continues being negotiated.