“At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it made sense for us to declare a statewide emergency. There were many unknowns to us and the world as public health and the economy took drastic hits. With this said, we are now over 15 months away from March of 2020. We are far more knowledgeable on the virus, vaccines are working and the positivity rate in New York is at a record low. According to the governor’s own numbers, as of yesterday the positivity rate in New York was 0.52%. To me and my colleagues in the Assembly and Senate, that is a far cry from an emergency.

“Those in the Majority have claimed in the media that they were stripping the governor of his emergency powers and holding him accountable. You can judge for yourself if they have taken these steps, as the governor continues to revise and control much of our daily lives with his executive orders in the name of emergency power. By terminating the state emergency disaster, we can return the Legislature to a co-equal branch of government and we can re-instill confidence within New Yorkers. We are not in a state of emergency. It’s time to end the politicking and let our state roar back without restriction from the Executive branch.”