Assemblyman Ed Ra (R-Franklin Square) believes the Assembly Majority should refocus the purpose and scope of upcoming hearings on the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When the Majority repeatedly wants to use state resources to pick apart the response from Washington instead of promoting transparency and accountability in our own government, it seems political,” said Ra. “After the Wall Street Journal’s explosive report detailing how critical communications, logistics and public health policy failures by the state sparked chaos and needless deaths in our hospitals, I can’t see how they can justify merely pointing fingers at the White House.”

The investigation is exhaustive. Reporters found that communication gaps between the state and city led to inappropriate patient transfers between hospitals and hospital systems. Intent focus on new hospital beds came at the expense of securing other basic supplies like oxygen, dialysis machines and vital sign monitors. The report alleges major staffing shortfalls, particularly among nurses and trained respiratory therapists, many of whom were rushed back to work after testing positive themselves. Patients reportedly died when untrained workers made critical errors trying to operate ventilators from the state stockpile, many of which were unsound.

“To say we need a better blueprint for dealing with public health emergencies is the understatement of the century. Moving forward means understanding what worked and, more importantly, what didn’t. Being defensive is not productive. The Assembly should be holding bipartisan hearings focused on our state,” said Ra.

Ra has previously called for bipartisan, public hearings on key elements of the state’s response.

“5,800 vulnerable New Yorkers died in nursing homes that were operating under state procedures that deviated from CDC guidelines. It’s on us to deliver transparency, accountability and answers to grieving families. It’s on us to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” said Ra.

Additionally, Ra wants to get answers for thousands of New Yorkers who didn’t hear from the Department of Labor for months after filing unemployment claims.

“The administration told people they couldn’t go to work. When they complied, the administration left them hanging out to dry for months. People deserve answers, and, as government representatives, we have to figure out how to reform our bureaucracy and make it more efficient and responsive so this never happens again,” said Ra.

Ra noted that the Majority’s plan to focus on the federal government’s response to small-business owners is troubling based on the actions they took in recent months.

“The Majority blocked an amendment from our Conference that would’ve provided small-business owners with hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency capital and would’ve delivered sweeping relief from regulations, mandates and fees. That would’ve helped small-business owners much more than talking about Washington on a Zoom call,” said Ra.