NY Mulling Taking Away Cuomo's Emergency Powers [POLL]

NEW YORK — Since the beginning of the pandemic almost a year ago, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been a one-man band when it comes to emergency orders — creating regulations and restrictions designed to get New Yorkers through the continuing threat of the new coronavirus.

Now members of the governor's own Democratic party are seeking to strip him of the unilateral emergency powers he was given, even as the FBI and the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York have opened an investigation into Cuomo's handling of nursing homes during the pandemic, The New York Times reported.

There's also the matter of the reported clash with Democratic Assemblyman Ron Kim of Flushing who has demanded a criminal investigation of nursing home fatalities and said he was threatened by the governor.

Nine Democratic Assembly members have been seeking support for revoking Cuomo's emergency powers, and a group of Senate Democrats said the expanded powers granted the governor are not appropriate any longer.

The emergency powers gave Cuomo the ability to act without having to call the Legislature back into session to vote, Spectrum News said.

Consider the following: moving the date of the 2020 primary, establishing micro-cluster zones, closing and then reopening businesses and requiring travelers to the state to quarantine. Those were executive orders issued by Cuomo.

While there has been hesitancy on behalf of many members of the Democratic-majority Assembly to criticize Cuomo's use of the emergency powers, members of the Senate, which is also a Democratic majority, have been crafting a bill to establish a 10-person bipartisan panel that could reject any of Cuomo's proposals, Newsday reported.

There could be a vote on it early next week. Cuomo's ability to issue emergency orders must be renewed by April 30 or it will expire.

Now it's your turn to weigh in on the issue. Vote in our unscientific poll and tell us what you think in the comments.