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Senate Republicans: End the emergency now

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Thu, Feb 17th 2022 08:05 pm

Ortt will introduce resolution to end emergency declared Feb. 14 by Gov. Hochul

New York State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt on Thursday announced he will introduce a resolution to immediately end the “statewide disaster emergency” declared by Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this week.

“By unilaterally extending her emergency powers without any input from the Legislature, Gov. Hochul is following the playbook of her disgraced predecessor – and not following her own administration’s science and data,” Ortt said. “Albany’s ruling class is clearly more worried about political science and holding onto power than letting New Yorkers decide what is best for themselves. My constituents and millions of our state’s residents are fed up. It’s time to stop governing by arbitrary mandates, restore checks and balances, and end the emergency today.”

On Monday, Hochul declared another “statewide disaster emergency,” basing the executive order

Ortt’s camp said she did this “in part on false data points related to COVID transmission and hospitalization rates. The next day, Gov. Hochul herself acknowledged that New York is at “pre-surge levels,” as cases and other data points continue to trend in a positive direction.

Ortt’s concurrent resolution would nullify the governor’s executive order and immediately put an end to the statewide disaster emergency, if passed in both houses of the State Legislature.

Last year, the Senate Republican Conference led the charge to repeal former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “emergency powers” almost 50 times. Senate Democrats rejected those efforts every single time. Just this week, Senate Democrats also blocked an amendment to unmask children in schools and day cares.

Ortt’s team noted other states lifted mask mandates for indoor settings, businesses and/or schools months ago. New York only recently announced the end of the “vax-or-mask” mandate for businesses and indoor settings, but continues to mandate mask-wearing in schools, among other settings.

“We are trying to do everything we can to stop these mandates for New Yorkers who are tired of state government dictating their everyday lives,” Ortt said. “New York Democrats are out of control and it’s clear the public has had enough – this is our solution.”

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