New York City Council Members Who Opposed Budget Got Less Funding For Their District

Every year, the New York City Council Speaker has a certain amount of money in the budget to dole out to fellow council members to spend on projects and organizations in their districts. But an analysis of this year's funding by the New York Daily News found that the members who voted against Speaker Corey Johnson's budget received less money than those who supported it.

The budget passed in late June was controversial: New York City is facing a $9 billion shortfall due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while police reform advocates lobbied elected officials to defund the NYPD amid citywide protests. In the end, 30 council members voted to pass the budget, which contained significant cuts across the board, with some modest reforms for the police department. But as reporter Shant Shahrigian tells WNYC's Sean Carlson, the 17 members who voted against it received much less money for their districts following the vote.

"It was on the order of about seven to one," Shahrigian said. "So on average, you had the "yes" votes getting about seven times as much money as the no votes, from the speaker."

In a statement, Johnson's office says the funds were distributed fairly.

For the full conversation, click "Listen."