Senate Republicans advanced the first proposal to end Governor Cuomo’s emergency powers 279 days ago. Today, panicking Democrats were finally forced into a corner after the Governor’s coverup of 15,000 nursing home deaths, the decimation of thousands of New Yorkers, and multiple scandals and investigations being led by both the FBI and the State Attorney General surrounding the Governor’s office.

Our Conference has listened to New Yorkers’ pleas to strip the Governor’s powers. We advanced an amendment to do so 19 times. Each and every one of those times, not a single Senate Democrat stood with us in this effort to restore checks and balances to Albany. Today, as they announced this bogus backroom deal, they turned their back on New Yorkers yet again, voting no on our amendment to remove the executive powers.

So while Senate Democrats finally seem to be in agreement that the “temporary emergency powers have served their purpose,” my question is, what took so long?

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