HUDSON VALLEY – State Senators James Skoufis (D, Cornwall) and Elijah Reichlin-Melnick (D, Nyack) joined 12 other Democratic state senators in releasing a statement calling for an end to Democratic Governor Cuomo’s emergency powers that he has been using since March 3, 2020. The lawmakers now say that those powers are inappropriate and are seeking to have them rescinded.
In March of last year, the legislature granted Cuomo additional emergency powers which have allowed him to unilaterally issue directives during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Skoufis and his colleagues noted that during the early months of the pandemic, state government had to restructure the decision-making process to render rapid, necessary public health directives. “It is clear that the expanded emergency powers granted to the Governor are no longer appropriate.”
The senators indicated that the current authority granted to Cuomo is set to expire on April 30 and they are urging their fellow senators to “adopt a repeal as expeditiously as possible.”
Reichlin-Melnich applauded Cuomo for his actions early in the pandemic but says that things have changed. “Now we face a different environment. New COVID cases are rapidly falling, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers a week are getting vaccinated, and an end to the pandemic is in sight. Recent news reports have revealed that public health experts have been ignored by the Governor and his administration intentionally withheld important information about the pandemic from the Legislature. It’s time for us to act.”
The dozen other senators calling for the repeal are Alessandra Biaggi, Jabari Brisport, Samra Brouk, Jeremy Cooney, Andrew Gounardes, Robert Jackson, John C. Liu, John Mannion, Rachel May, Gustavo Rivera, Julia Salazar, and James Sanders.
