Hmm. Another month, another "emergency" in New York for Kathy Hochul.
On Monday, without fanfare, the governorrenewed his Pandemic Emergency Declaration for another 30 days until September 12th. march.
The decision had little impact on the public,because it focused on the technical rules of state purchases, rather than covering up orders and business closures.But declaring a non-existent emergency is a dangerous abuse of governorship — and sadly it's becoming a pattern.
In recent weeks, Hochul has We have quietly extended three other state of emergency declarations that started in 2021. One focuses on hospital and hospital and nursing home staff shortages, and his other on deteriorating conditions for Rikers. Island, the oldest dealing with gun violence, was first issued by the ex-government. Andrew Cuomo over a year ago, just before resigning to avoid impeachment.
The underlying problem is legitimate enough, but it's a permanent problem.
So why is Ho Chul pretending to be different? The real pathogen at work here is Albanyitis, which has been circulating in the state capital for generations. It gives politicians an unruly urge to cut procedural corners, avoid accountability, and overthrowethical guardrails
Updated on Monday Consider the details of the instruction. Its most important provision suspended the enforcement of certain state purchasing laws. This allowed the Ho-chol administration to purchase pandemic-related supplies without the usual precautions, such as soliciting bids from multiple suppliers and submitting contracts for review by the Board of Audit. .
Ho-chul argued that it was necessary to cut down on this bureaucracy, so when New York City public schools reopened after his January vacation last year. , the state was able to rapidly obtain and distribute millions of home testing kits.
As it happens, the state funded most of these supplies at his $637 million expense, controlled by a major donor from a New Jersey company to the state's Democratic Party. Purchased. Hochul's reelection, connection first reported by Albany Times Union. Most of these payments flowed to the company in late February and March after COVID numbers returned to pre-Omicron levels.
By then, the administration would probably have had time to go through its normal procedures, such as competitive bidding and review by auditors.Instead, Mr. Hochul would issue an emergency order every 30 days. I kept circumventing these steps.
his $300,000 political donation by the owner and his family. These denials ring in vain as the governor was going out of her way to stop purchasing rules to prevent waste and corruption. was not possible. Congress and the Senate have the power, by simple majority vote, to overturn the provision of the governor's emergency declaration 30 days after her first. And change laws that legally prevent the state from effectively responding to ongoing problems such as the lingering pandemic, the shortage of medical staff,gun crime,
. You can also First Cuomo, and now Ho-chul, have pushed the scope of emergency powers to new extremes, infringing on Congress' proper role in state government.
Via Pacific Press/Light Rocket There is a risk that it will develop into yet another Albany ploy exercised for public gain.
To avoid this, new limits on the governor's powers may be necessary. For example, the state of emergency must receive affirmative approval from Congress for it to continue beyond her initial 30 days.
Ultimately, however, governors need discretion to respond powerfully and quickly to true emergencies. Do they use their extraordinary power only when absolutely necessary, or do they abuse it as a grandstand or a way to show political favor? Voters will monitor and judge accordingly. is needed.
Bill Hammond is a Senior Fellow in Health Policy at the Empire Center.
