Republican 'didn't have the courage' to tell sheriff he'd lost funding: Democratic aide

Last October, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) excitedly announced $32 million in funding for the Rockland County Sheriff's office. After President Donald Trump was sworn in, however, the cash was caught up in a slew of funding cuts ushered in by Republicans.

Lawler never told the sheriff he wasn't getting the money he was promised, according to a report.

"When I was elected to represent this district, I promised I would work with my partners at every level of government and in both parties to prioritize the needs of our residents," Lawler said in a press release that is still on his congressional website as of publication. "That’s exactly what I’ve done in working with each of the officials with me here today to ensure funding for each of these important projects."

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The Republican spending bill, which Lawler supported, cut the very funding he'd promised to secure right before the election, The Journal News reported Tuesday.

Rockland Sheriff Louis Falco found out "from Tax Watch on March 27 that the money Lawler promised in October would not be forthcoming in 2025," the report said.

The department had wanted to purchase amphibious public safety vehicles to navigate rescues during floods. The funds would also have helped with a new training facility.

“I put in a grant [application] and was told we were selected to receive the funding,” said Falco, who won reelection in 2023. “I’ve been waiting to hear back from the Congressman on how to proceed. I have not heard that the money was not approved.”

The sheriff isn't the only one who didn't know the status of funding. Representatives of the town of Ramapo, New York, were told it was still getting the $5 million that Lawler promised for pedestrian safety improvements.

“That’s what we believe until we are told otherwise,” the town's grant coordinator, Jeff Posner, told The Journal News. “We are still hopeful.”

Pleasantville, New York, was "optimistic" after the announcement that the federal government would fund $2.2 million of a $6 million improvement project to replace old water towers. Mayor Peter Scherer learned they weren't getting the money on a recent online meeting between Lawler and other municipal leaders.

“The [continuing resolution] that was passed eliminated all those things,” said Scherer. “It was disappointing that our funding was bumped for the 2025 fiscal year. Mike Lawler has indicated optimism about the new year. But you can’t predict. It’s hard to keep up.”

A communications aide for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee pointed out the report on X, saying, "Wow. After voting to eliminate all community projects for the year, Mike Lawler didn’t even have the courage to tell the Rockland County sheriff in #NY17 that his department wouldn’t receive the $7.1 million in promised funding."

Lawler told The Journal News that he made it clear the funding hadn't been guaranteed.

“We made clear they needed to pass the full House and Senate once a final negotiation was complete and that we were hopeful it would be done after the election," Lawler said in a text message to editor Carrie Yale.

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However, that's not what Lawler's office said in the press release. Instead, it used words like "already secured" and "set to deliver."

"Although the appropriations work for Fiscal Year 2025 is still ongoing, Congressman Lawler has already secured more than $32.9 million for fifteen different projects across New York's 17th Congressional District. This is in addition to $38 million in federal funding for 17 projects in Fiscal Year 2024. With the latest numbers, Congressman Lawler is set to deliver more than $70 million for New York's 17th Congressional District in his first term in office," the release said.

Lawler won his seat from a Democrat in 2022, and won in 2024 by just under 20,000 votes.

Read more from The Journal News report.