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Legislature Curbing Cuomo's Power As Calls For Resignation Grow

The New York State Capitol
Jackie Orchard
/
WAMC

The New York State legislature is voting to end Governor Andrew Cuomo’s emergency powers granted to him during COVID-19, as the Democrat faces new developments on two controversies over sexual harassment allegations and his handling of nursing homes during the pandemic.

Under the measure, many of the current rules and restrictions enacted by Cuomo, like requiring the wearing of masks, how to distribute the vaccine, and how many people can eat indoors in a restaurant, will stay in place. But they will need to be reviewed by the legislature every 30 days going forward. The governor cannot issue any new directives without first getting lawmakers’ permission.The New York State legislature is voting to end Governor Andrew Cuomo’s emergency powers granted to him during COVID-19, as the Democrat faces new developments on two controversies over sexual harassment allegations and his handling of nursing homes during the pandemic.The New York State legislature is voting to end Governor Andrew Cuomo’s emergency powers granted to him during COVID-19, as the Democrat faces new developments on two controversies over sexual harassment allegations and his handling of nursing homes during the pandemic.

Republicans, who are in the minority in both houses, say the bill does not go far enough. They say Cuomo’s current authority was set to sunset on April 30. The new measure will extend the governor’s emergency powers, though in more limited way, beyond that date.

Deputy Minority Leader, Senator Andrew Lanza, says rules that restrict nearly every aspect of New Yorkers’ lives will continue indefinitely.

“Everything that matters, concerning the pandemic, all the things that are bothering people,” said Lanza who said the concerns range from whether their children can play on a sports team or whether their barbershop can open.

“He continues to have the same unilateral power on all these matters that he has enjoyed under the old bill,” Lanza said.

Democratic Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris says many of the governor’s directives need to stay in place because there is still a deadly pandemic going on.

“This is still a public health crisis that we’re in, that’s why there are so few of us in this chamber and we are all wearing masks,” Gianaris said. “Maybe some of my colleagues prefer that this all go away and we could become Texas.”

Texas Governor Greg Abbot ended all mask mandates and restrictions on businesses in his state.

“That’s not what the people of this state want,” Gianaris said. “We are being responsible.”

Cuomo, on Wednesday said that he negotiated the bill with the legislature, and agrees to its terms, causing republicans to pan it as a “backroom deal.” Gianaris said the governor was not involved.

“To be clear, the governor lied,” Gianaris said. “There was no agreement.”

There are also developments in two growing scandals concerning the governor.

One of the women who has accused the governor of sexual harassment, Charlotte Bennett, appeared on CBS,where she told anchor Norah O’Donnell that she felt the 63-year-old governor was grooming her to be a potential sex partner. It culminated in a private meeting in his office last June.

“He asked me if age difference mattered,” Bennett told O’Donnell. “He also explained that he was fine with anyone over 22.”

Bennett, who is 25, was asked by O’Donnell what she was thinking while the governor asked those questions.

“I thought, he’s trying to sleep with me,” Bennett answered.  

Cuomo on Wednesday apologized if his actions were harmful to anyone, saying he did not intend for them to be.

“I now understand that I acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable,” Cuomo said on March 3. “It was unintentional.”

Bennett in the CBS interview says she did not misinterpret the governor’s intentions.

“I understood him loud and clear,” she said. “It just didn’t go the way he planned.”  

Meanwhile, the New York Timesand the Wall Street Journal report more evidence of Cuomo’s top aides covering up the number of nursing home residents who died of the coronavirus in hospitals. The hospital death numbers have been a subject of controversy. They were withheld by the Cuomo administration for months, until the State Attorney General in a January report found that the nursing home deaths were undercounted by 50%. Both papers say last June, state health experts wanted to include the hospital deaths in a public report, but the governor’s top aides took the numbers out.

In a statement, a health department spokesman says the numbers were taken out because they could not yet be accurately verified.  

The news led more members of Cuomo’s own party to call for him to leave.

Senate Aging Committee Chair Rachel May, a Democrat, says she was “angered beyond measure” over the reports.

“Well, I was furious,” said May. “To discover that they had (the numbers) all along and were deliberately withholding them, takes it to a whole other level.”

Senator May says if the reports are true, then everyone involved in “lying” to the public and the legislature must resign immediately.

Karen DeWitt is Capitol Bureau chief for New York State Public Radio, a network of public radio stations in New York state. She has covered state government and politics for the network since 1990.
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