Since the spring, New York state and local governments have been waiting for some sort of federal assistance to recoup the billions of dollars in lost tax revenue as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

And in effect, New York has been treading water: Money has been withheld in some instances by the state and pay raises for some public employees have been halted during the crisis. But waiting around forever is not an option as county governments have budgets set to pass by the end of the calendar year that will likely have more question marks than dollar signs.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday in an interview with WAMC's Alan Chartock defended the waiting game with the federal government. He boiled it down to two options: Passing a budget that increases taxes and cuts spending now or waiting until early 2021 to see if the new Biden admnistation can secure a good deal for the state. 

"I am banking on the federal government provides assistance," Cuomo said.

Providing clarity now would be an ugly picture: Layoffs at the local level and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority cutting up to 7,000 employees. 

Taxing wealthier people by raising rates on millionaires and billionaires would be a relative drop in the bucket. 

"That gets you about tops $2 billion," he said. "You now have a $13 billion hole. That is thousands of layoffs."

The lame duck session of Congress is now considering a $908 billion stimulus package that would include extending aid for workers who have lost their jobs during the pandemic, as well as aid for businesses that have been affected by the crisis. State and local governments would not be given a piece of that pie under the proposal. 

President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to provide direct government aid and is expected to push for his own stimulus measure likely around February. The timing is going to be close: New York's budget is expected to pass by the end of March, when the fiscal year closes.

"It is a little bit wait and see," Cuomo said. "Washington has been doing this to several months now. It's always next week, next week, next week."