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NYS GOP Chair Stops in Syracuse, Blasts Gov. Cuomo and Legislature

Chris Bolt/WAER News

This year, Governor Andrew Cuomo already signed more than double the amount of executive orders he did in 2019. A group of Republicans believe he is silencing the state legislature. State Republican Chair Nick Langworthy spoke in Syracuse Wednesday, calling on state lawmakers to keep Governor Cuomo’s powers in check.    

Langworthy says it’s up to the legislature to balance government.

"Albany is broken.  The legislature refuses to come back to work.  They've just thrown the keys to the state government right over to the governor and said 'you run the show for the next year.'  Let's restart the New York State legislature and have a co-equal branch of government once again."

Langworthy was joined by a number of local republican candidates.  Angi Renna is running for the State Senate in the 50th District.  She says Cuomo should have reopened the economy earlier, starting with Destiny USA.  The Governor delayed the mega-mall’s comeback based on air filtration concerns.

Credit Chris Bolt/WAER News
Angi Renna is running for the State Senate in the 50th District. She says the Governor's executive orders are detrimental to New York.

"Why all of a sudden are we hearing all of this rhetoric about needing pefect air filtration?  The fact is we don't.  The governor wants to maintain his control.  These people own businesses and they're not going to survive."

About half of the local businesses have had to either lay off workers or reduce hours to stay afloat. Langworthy believes most people agree that Cuomo’s COVID-19 decisions are flawed.

"This silent majority will stand up and be heard loud and clear on Election Day this year, and sweep common sense back into office."

The Democrats own 70% of the State Assembly. Election Day is November 3rd.  

GOVERNMENT GROUPS QUESTION GOVERNOR'S EMERGENCY POWERS

By Karen DeWitt, Capitol Correspondent

A coalition of government reform groups say the New York state legislature should consider limiting some of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s emergency powers gained during the pandemic, and return, at least remotely, to meeting in session to set policy for New York.

In early March, as the coronavirus rapidly gained ground in New York, the legislature granted Governor Cuomo  special emergency powers to temporarily suspend laws or create new ones  to fight the pandemic. 

Since then, the governor has issued over 40 executive orders that changed over 250 laws. They range from whether or not nursing homes have to readmit residents who were in the hospital with COVID-19, to closing schools and businesses and requiring that everyone wear face masks in public.

Cuomo has been widely praised for his handling of the crisis. But now that the spread of the virus is easing in New York, reform groups including Common Cause, the League of Women Voters and Reinvent Albany have written to the legislative leaders, asking them to take back some of the powers that they gave to the governor.

Blair Horner, with the New York Public Interest Research Group , which is also part of the coalition, says re- involving the legislature in the decision making process is in the best interests of democracy. He spoke via Skype.

In March the governor and the legislative leaders agreed to new powers for the governor, basically to enact laws unilaterally, with a veto power for the legislature,” Horner said.  “As the epidemic has eased, we think the legislature should get back to work. Hold committee meetings, move bills.”

Horner says in a normal year, the legislature acts on 800 to 900 bills. So far this year, just 150 have passed.

At the very least, the groups say, the legislature should reassert its governing powers to vote on whether any of the executive orders should be extended when they come up for renewal. 

Some state lawmakers including Republican legislative leaders, as well as some liberal Democrats, have also called for reigning in some of the governors’ powers.

Cuomo, asked about the letter Monday in a  coronavirus briefing, condemned the idea, saying that the idea is “stupid”, and  with the virus spiking alarmingly in other states,  “there is no thinking American who does not believe that this is a state of emergency”.

And stupid is a strong word, but sometimes it’s just stupid,” said Cuomo who said without the executive orders no one would have to wear masks or socially distance, and movie theaters and Broadway, closed for safety reasons, would reopen, and hospitals could reject people sick with COVID-19 who can’t afford to pay. 

The governor says the legislature still retains the authority to pass a law to override any executive order that he issues.

Everything that we have done that has worked goes way immediately, because they were all done by executive order,” Cuomo said.

Cuomo’s Chief of Staff Melissa DeRosa, says the successful management of the virus during the past few months would not have been possible if the governor were not empowered to quickly implement changes. She called the proposal “ignorant” and accused lawmakers who back the idea of being “completely political”. 

Horner, with NYPIRG, says the groups are not criticizing the governor’s handling of the crisis, or saying that the pandemic is over, but they are advocating a return to the democratic principles found in the nation’s and the state’s constitutions.

What we’re arguing for is a return to the American form of democracy, a system of checks and balances,” Horner said. “If the governor doesn’t like it, of course he’s entitled to his opinion, but  that’s a debate he’d have to have with Thomas Jefferson, not with us.”

Cuomo could not give a date for when he thinks it’s appropriate that the emergency powers end, saying  “when covid ends, the emergency ends”.

A source in the legislature confirms that the Senate and Assembly are holding private party conferences Wednesday and might reconvene in session the week of July 20th.  No agenda has yet been set.

Chris Bolt, Ed.D. has proudly been covering the Central New York community and mentoring students for more than 30 years. His career in public media started as a student volunteer, then as a reporter/producer. He has been the news director for WAER since 1995. Dedicated to keeping local news coverage alive, Chris also has a passion for education, having trained, mentored and provided a platform for growth to more than a thousand students. Career highlights include having work appear on NPR, CBS, ABC and other news networks, winning numerous local and state journalism awards.