Plugged In @ Hinman Straub – August 7, 2020

What’s Inside

  • Governor Signs Legislation
  • Governor Declares State of Emergency Due to Tropical Storm Isaias
  • Governor Announces All School District Authorized to Re-Open
  • Governor Announce Administration Appointments
  • New York City Health Commissioner Resigns, Replacement Announced
  • Cilento Unanimously Re-Elected President of the New York AFL-CIO
  • Political Updates
  • Reminders, and Links
  • Coming Up

Governor Signs Legislation

The Governor signed legislation related to a variety of issues, including extending the lookback period under the Child Victims Act and rolling back liability protections for health care professionals and facilities.

CVA Extension of Lookback Period (S.7082 Hoylman/A.9036 Rosenthal L) – Extends the look back window for victims to file claims under the Child Victims Act, regardless of when or how long ago the alleged abuse occurred. This legislation extends the special filing period by a full year and claims can now be filed under the Child Victims Act until August 14, 2021.

Rollback of Liability Protections (S.8835 Sepulveda/A.10840 Kim) – Amends the statutory liability protection granted in the 2020-21 Budget prospectively to health care professionals, health care facilities, and organizations that provide treatment and services related to the COVID-19 pandemic response during the duration of the COVID-19 state of emergency. The liability protection is now limited solely to the treatment, diagnosis, and care of an individual as it relates to COVID when such individual has a confirmed or suspected case of COVID. The statute also amends the definition of the health care services that are eligible for immunity from liability by removing “prevention” of COVID from the definition of health care services. Lastly, the amendment removes immunity protections for a health care facility or health care professional that is “arranging for” health care services.

Real Estate License Revocation (S.6874-A Gaughran/A.8903-A Jean-Pierre) – Authorizes the Department of Sate the discretion to fine, suspend or revoke the license of a real estate agent or broker who commits a violation of Article 15 of the Executive Law in his or her capacity as an agent or broker. Article 15 of the Executive Law, known as the New York State Human Rights Law, prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of a protected characteristic, including race, creed, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, military status, family status, sexual orientation or gender identity. This legislation is the result of an investigation conducted by Newsday.

Regulating Oil and Gas Waste (S.3392 May/A.2655 Englebright) – Classifies all waste resulting from oil or natural gas production activities as hazardous waste, if such waste meets the definition of hazardous wastes set forth in the Environmental Conservation Law. Currently, regulations that govern the waste produced by the oil and natural gas industries exempt “drilling fluids, produced waters, and other wastes associated with the exploration, development or production of crude oil, natural gas or geothermal energy” from being regulated as hazardous waste.

Ice Cream Made with Alcohol (S.7013 May/A.8732 Lupardo) – Authorizes the manufacture and sale of ice cream and other frozen desserts made with liquor in New York State. The law limits the percentage of alcohol in ice cream to not more than 5 percent of alcohol by volume, and would require the same product labeling and warning statements similar to confectionary that contain wine, beer or cider.

Governor Declares State of Emergency Due to Tropical Storm Isaias

Governor Cuomo declared a state of emergency in New York in order to provide local governments with additional clean-up and operational support in the wake of Tropical Storm Isaias. The counties included in the declaration are Bronx, Dutchess, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk and Westchester. Additionally, the declaration will also apply to those counties bordering the 11 specifically stated in the declaration. As such, Columbia, Ulster and Sullivan will also be covered by the order. This declaration comes after the Governor directed the Department of Public Service to investigate utilities and the resulting outages.

Governor Announces All School Districts Authorized to Re-Open

The Governor announced his decision to authorize all schools to open for in-person instruction. This authority can be rescinded if infection rates spike and the ultimate decision is up to the district. The Governor said that school districts must address specific concerns with individual plans highlighted by the Department of Health (DOH) and the State Education Department (SED) and maintain communication with students, families and faculty. Many districts have not submitted plans to DOH and some have been found deficient by DOH.

By next week, schools must also separately post their plan for remote learning, plan for testing, and plan for contact tracing. In addition, by August 21 – schools must offer at least three public discussions with parents and teachers (can be held virtually/online) and one additional session for teachers specifically. The Big 5 school districts must offer five parent discussions, due to their size.

Governor Announces Administration Appointments

Governor Cuomo announced new appointments to his administration, as follows:

Peter Ajemian, Communications Director – Previously held the role of Senior Deputy Communications Director since November 2018, and prior to that was Deputy Communications Director for Transportation. Prior to joining the Governor’s Office, he served as Chief of Staff to State Senator Brad Hoylman. 

Stephen B. Silverman, Senior Communications Advisor for Speechwriting and Strategic Messaging – Most recently, as an independent consultant, advised the Clinton Foundation on communicating the record of President Clinton and his administration and helped create a successful alumni engagement platform.

Marquita Sanders, Assistant Secretary for Scheduling and Operations – Previously served in the Obama-Biden Administration working on the Affordable Care Act as an Associate Director in External Affairs in the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Senior Advisor for Health Programs at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Richard Becker MD, Deputy Secretary for Health and Human Services – Previously held the role of Senior Managing Director at ToneyKorf Partners, a strategic advisory and interim management firm with a focus on complex or distressed healthcare situations. Prior to joining ToneyKorf Partners, led the clinical, operational and financial turnaround of The Brooklyn Hospital Center.

Jennifer Rentas, Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services – Previously served in multiple roles since 2012 at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), most recently as Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff.

Julissa Gutierrez, Chief Diversity Officer for the State of New York – Previously served as Deputy Director of Constituency Affairs for the Governor. Prior to joining the Governor’s Office, Ms. Gutierrez held a number of roles at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund.

Laura Montross, Deputy Communications Director for Policy and Issue Advocacy – Most recently served as Director of Women’s Outreach on Mike Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign and as a Principal at Kivvit, a New York public affairs and communications firm.

New York City Health Commissioner Resigns, Replacement Announced

r. Oxiris Barbot, New York City’s Commissioner of Health resigned from her position this week. Barbot has led the agency since 2018. Mayor de Blasio announced her replacement shortly after her resignation became public, appointing Dave Chokshi, a primary care physician at Bellevue Hospital and associate professor at the NYU School of Medicine as the new commissioner. Dr. Chokshi has served in leadership roles at NYC Health + Hospitals over the past six years.

Cilento Unanimously Re-Elected President of the New York AFL-CIO

Mario Cilento was re-elected unanimously by the New York State AFL-CIO’s Executive Board to another four-year term as President. Cilento has served as President since 2011, representing 2.5 million members from 3,000 affiliated public sector, private sector, and building trades unions throughout the state.

Mr. Cilento said:

“I am humbled by your support. It is an honor to continue to serve on behalf of the 2.5 million members of the New York State AFL-CIO. And it is a privilege to work alongside the most dedicated, successful and innovative labor leaders in this country.”

Political Updates

State Board of Elections appeals ruling to count late absentee ballots.

Carolyn Maloney and Richie Torres prevail in their congressional primaries.

City & State NY’s updated state legislative primary tracker.

City & State NY’s updated congressional primary tracker.

Endorsements

LG Hochul endorses Cobb, Troopers PBA endorses Stefanik.

NYSUT endorses two Rochester area State Senate candidates.

New York League of Conservation Voters releases list of endorsements.

Reminders and Links

City & State NY’s Weekly Winners and Losers here.

Assembly member sanctioned after discussing harassment investigation.

Governor announces $23 million award through New York Forward Loan Fund.

Coming Up

A second Joint Senate and Assembly hearing on residential health care facilities and COVID-19 will be held and August 10.

A Joint Assembly and Senate hearing on elections in a pandemic will be held on August 11.

The Board of Regents will hold their next meeting on August 11.

JCOPE will hold its next meeting on August 11.

A Joint Senate and Assembly hearing on hospitals and COVID-19 will be held on August 12.

The Public Service Commission will hold its next meeting on August 13.

A Joint Senate and Assembly hearing on impact of COVID-19 on workers will be on August 13.

A Joint Senate and Assembly hearing on how COVID-19 impacts New York’s veteran community will be held on August 14.