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| DATE | 2020-05-08 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] For my sister who questioned if this is a power
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https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/With-Legislature-idle-Cuomo-changed-262-laws-in-15240581.php
With Legislature idle, Cuomo changed 262 laws in 55 days
Brendan J. Lyons
17-21 minutes
Cuomo invokes executive powers during pandemic to changes to hundreds of
laws and regulations
Photo of Brendan J. Lyons
May 2, 2020Updated: May 2, 2020 6 p.m.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo holds a news briefing to discuss the latests state
coronavirus cases, and efforts being taken to contain a potential
outbreak on Thursday, March 5, 2020, in the Red Room at the Capitol in
Albany, N.Y. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
1of20
Gov. Andrew Cuomo holds a news briefing to discuss the latests state
coronavirus cases, and efforts being taken to contain a potential
outbreak on Thursday, March 5, 2020, in the Red Room at the Capitol in
Albany, N.Y. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
Will Waldron
Gov. Andrew Cuomo answers questions during a news briefing where he
provided updates on state coronavirus infections, and measures being
taken to mitigate its dispersion on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, in the Red
Room at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
2of20
Gov. Andrew Cuomo answers questions during a news briefing where he
provided updates on state coronavirus infections, and measures being
taken to mitigate its dispersion on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, in the Red
Room at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
Will Waldron/Albany Times Union
Gov. Andrew Cuomo answers questions during a news briefing where he
provided updates on state coronavirus infections, and measures being
taken to mitigate its dispersion on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, in the Red
Room at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Chart shows region and number of
confirmed state case. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
3of20
Gov. Andrew Cuomo answers questions during a news briefing where he
provided updates on state coronavirus infections, and measures being
taken to mitigate its dispersion on Tuesday, March 10, 2020, in the Red
Room at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Chart shows region and number of
confirmed state case. (Will Waldron/Times Union)
Will Waldron/Albany Times Union
ALBANY — In the two months since Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo declared a state
of emergency on March 7, he has invoked the powers of his office to
issue more than 25 executive orders in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The expansive orders have made hundreds of temporary but sweeping
changes to state laws, including shutting down schools and businesses,
as well as altering state regulations that govern public health,
hospitals, nursing homes, elections, open meetings, court proceedings,
purchasing procedures and child care.
Some of the decisions have also raised constitutional questions,
including Cuomo's March 20 order that directed New Yorkers to engage in
mandatory "social distancing." It's unclear if that measure or others
like it — which have been widely followed — could be legally enforced.
A statute passed in 1979 empowered the governor to “temporarily suspend
any statute, local law, ordinance, or orders, rules or regulations, or
parts thereof” for a period of 30 days. But as the coronavirus pandemic
took hold, the Legislature in early March gave Cuomo the boundless
ability to "issue any directive … necessary to cope with the disaster."
The revision did not attach an enforcement mechanism, including any
punishment for those who violate such orders.
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Before the pandemic struck, Cuomo had not issued an executive order
since February 2019, when he used the power of his office to rename
Albany's State University of New York Plaza in honor of his fellow
Democrat, H. Carl McCall, a former state senator and comptroller.
But the orders signed by Cuomo in the shadow of a pandemic that engulfed
New York City have made monumental changes, ranging from allowing
non-public opening of bids — even as the state has expended more than
$2.8 billion to battle the pandemic — to waiving background checks for
daycare workers.
Over the past two weeks, the pandemic has begun subsiding in New York as
the numbers of new infections, deaths and hospitalizations from COVID-19
decline. Yet the governor has given no indication that he will suspend
his emergency declaration, even as his extraordinary use of executive
orders has stoked some unrest in the state Legislature, where most
lawmakers have been left on the sidelines as Cuomo has held the national
spotlight for his handling of the crisis.
"We know it was a difficult decision, but the Legislature rose to the
challenge and absolutely did the right thing by granting this executive
power and they should be commended," said Richard Azzopardi, a senior
advisor to Cuomo. "With the Capitol shut down, members dealing with the
concerns of their constituents and travel from across the state not
advised, there would have been virtually no way we would have been able
to address this pandemic as we had."
Cuomo's fervid use of executive authority
Hundreds of New York laws and regulations have been altered during pandemic
Sources: Office of the Governor. Reid, McNally & Savage.
Last week, frustration bubbled over in Saratoga County after Cuomo
expressed doubt that entertainment venues such as the Saratoga Race
Course would be able to open this summer. He had said the same thing
earlier in the week about the state fair in Syracuse and large arenas
and stadiums.
Assemblywoman Carrier Woerner, a Democrat from Round Lake, pounced on
Cuomo's remarks and said it was premature for the governor to
pontificate about shutting down an historic race course that is not
scheduled to open for almost three months and is central to the fiscal
health of the region's tourism industry.
"It’s one thing to be in the midst of an immediate crisis. ... In the
heat of that moment, I think it was appropriate to concentrate
decision-making with a single individual," Woerner said. "But by all
measure we are past that moment of crisis and we’re turning to some form
of normalcy. It is time, in my opinion, to go back to the normal
policy-making process ... it’s a collaborative process. We can vote on
it, but he gets to veto it. Those are the guardrails."
But the concern about Cuomo's use of executive powers during the crisis
has not rankled everyone in the Legislature.
Deputy Senate Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, a Queens Democrat whose
communities have been ravaged by the coronavirus, said he does not
believe the governor's executive orders have strayed from what was
necessary. The lawmaker — who has skirmished with the governor over
issues such as the scuttled Amazon headquarters proposed for Long Island
City — said that Cuomo's team has been "better than usual about
consulting and reaching out."
"I've not hesitated to butt heads in the past, and I'm very sensitive to
the perils of the current situation, but I don't believe the line has
been crossed yet," Gianaris said.
The issues that have raised concerns for Gianaris, and where the
Legislature needs to step in, include "the lack of immediate attention
to the economic catastrophe that's related to this pandemic," he said.
"We haven't don't anything to provide real rent relief. The process for
processing unemployment checks has been substandard by any measure. In
the meantime, people are suffering."
Gianaris noted that the Legislature could take steps to undo any
executive orders that members believe are not appropriate.
Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay said that it's critical for
state legislators and the governor to continue putting politics aside
and get through the pandemic, but "there's going to have to be some
post-mortem." His concerns include examining the state's initial
response and the startling rate of infection and death in many nursing
homes.
"Let’s get through this crisis — and I don’t want to be pointing
fingers," Barclay said.
The first legislative tensions with Cuomo came in early March, days
before the governor declared a state of emergency, when some lawmakers
pushed for a detailed reporting system in response to the governor's
call for $40 million emergency appropriation to deal with the crisis.
Their request, which was rebuffed, would have required at least monthly
reporting of how the funds were being used.
Instead, the governor emerged from the deal with expanded emergency
powers and the ability to move state resources and funds almost at will.
"We want to work in a partnership with anybody doing this," Barclay
said, "but we also don’t think it should just be unilateral control by
the executive branch, and I do think that the legislature has a role to
play."
The assemblyman pointed out that Oswego County, which is part of his
district, has eight active coronavirus cases. He said Cuomo needs to
understand that rural upstate counties should not be treated the same as
harder-hit metro areas and the governor's task force needs to consult
locals more.
"I’m worried that voice is lost right now," Barclay said.
Last week, when Cuomo announced he had appointed 116 people to his
sprawling New York Forward Reopening Advisory Board, it did not include
a single state legislator.
Gianaris, while not commenting directly on the governor's selections to
that critical panel, noted that lawmakers "are the ones who are on the
ground in our communities ... dealing with food pantry lines and and the
perils of the stay-at-home order. We’re seeing and feeling that on a
daily basis."
While the New York City metropolitan region quickly emerged as the
hardest-hit area in the nation — including by far the highest number of
fatalities attributed to COVID-19 — Cuomo has repeatedly touted his
administration's actions, contending New York acted faster than any
other state, and has brushed aside criticism that his decision to shut
down businesses and schools came days after it should have been done.
Barclay said the timing of those critical decisions in March need to be
closely scrutinized, if nothing else to make sure New York is better
prepared for any future pandemic.
"I think it’s a very atypical situation, and we all are flying blind,"
he said. "It certainly needs to be investigated. Just maybe not right now."
--
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town
that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://www.mrbrklyn.com
DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
http://www.brooklyn-living.com
Being so tracked is for FARM ANIMALS and extermination camps,
but incompatible with living as a free human being. -RI Safir 2013
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