Plugged In @ Hinman Straub – October 2, 2020
What’s Inside
- New York State Launches Contact Tracing App
- Governor Names Vaccine Task Force Members
- Residential Eviction Moratorium Extended
- Report Says Nearly Forty Percent of Schools Face Financial Insolvency or Inability to Provide Sound Basic Education if Cuts Persist
- Governor Announces Western New York Workforce Development Challenge Round 2 Awardees
- Union Officials Charged With Racketeering, Fraud, And Bribery Offenses
- Rochester Mayor Indicted
- Political Updates
- Reminders, and Links
- Coming Up
New York State Launches Contact Tracing App
The Governor announced the launch of a COVID-19 exposure notification mobile app to supplement the effort to trace and contact individuals subject to a COVID exposure. The app, COVID Alert NY, will notify users of potential COVID-19 exposure while maintaining user privacy and security. The COVID Alert app will notify users if they have been in close contact – within six feet for at least 10 minutes – with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 and can be downloaded here.
Governor Cuomo said:
“We have a very exciting announcement that has taken a lot of work and it’s really creative and smart and I think it can make a big difference. This is a technology-based contact tracing app. Testing is only as good as your contact tracing. Testing is to identify a person, so you can isolate and quarantine that person and then find the connections from that person, and that’s contact tracing. We have about 15,000 people statewide who do contact tracing, they call them disease detectives. But we’ve been looking for a technology-based solution. And today, we are announcing an app that you can download for free from the app store called COVID Alert NY.”
Governor Names Vaccine Task Force Members
The Governor appointed members to the Clinical Advisory Task Force charged with reviewing every COVID-19 vaccine authorized by the federal government to advise on the vaccines’ safety and effectiveness in fighting the virus.
Members of the Task Force are as follows:
- Charles M. Rice, Ph.D., The Rockefeller University
- Scott M. Hammer, MD, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center
- Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, Ph.D., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Sharon Nachman, MD, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
- Kelvin Lee, MD, Roswell Park
- Bruce Farber, MD, Northwell Health
- Shawneequa Callier, MA, JD, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Residential Eviction Moratorium Extended
The Governor signed an Executive Order expanding the protections of the Tenant Safe Harbor Act to include eviction warrants in cases where a judgment or warrant of eviction for a residential property was granted prior to March 7, 2020, through January 1, 2021. The Tenant Safe Harbor Act prohibits a court from issuing a warrant of eviction or judgment of possession against a residential tenant or other lawful occupant, that has suffered a financial hardship during the COVID-19 covered period, for nonpayment of rent that accrues or becomes due during the COVID 19 covered period. The Executive Order also extends the
Governor Cuomo said:
“As New York continues to fight the pandemic, we want to make sure New Yorkers who are still struggling financially will not be forced from their homes as a result of COVID. We are extending the protections of the Safe Harbor Act through January 1 because we want tenants to have fundamental stability in their lives as we recover from this crisis.”
Report Says Nearly Forty Percent of Schools Face Financial Insolvency or Inability to Provide Sound Basic Education if Cuts Persist
According to a report released today by the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA) and the Association of School Business Officials of New York (ASBO), multi-year state aid reductions would leave nearly four in 10 school districts either financially insolvent or unable to provide a sound, basic education to their students. Compounding the issue of aid reductions, additional costs due to COVID preparations will cost school districts an estimated, on average, an extra $500,000.
Significant finding include:
- One in four surveyed said they would become financially insolvent if the state withheld aid for a prolonged period of up to three years. Forty percent of those surveyed would resort to staff reductions.
- Thirteen percent would be at risk of educational insolvency, rendering a school potentially unable to provide “all state and federally mandated student instruction and services,” the report says. If withholdings were to last only one year, 60 percent said they would deploy instructional layoffs.
NYSSBA Executive Director Robert Schneider said:
“The consequences of a three-year period of sustained education cuts are potentially catastrophic for public education in New York. Federal stimulus funds would help stave off painful cuts, but lawmakers in Washington have yet to provide additional education funding despite the crying need – and there is no telling how many young people will miss out on their constitutional right to a sound public education and on the opportunities to build meaningful lives and careers as adults.”
Governor Announces Western New York Workforce Development Challenge Round 2 Awardees
Governor Cuomo announced $1,454,072 million in funding from the second round of the Western New York Workforce Development Challenge has been awarded to four nonprofit organizations. Awardees include:
- Trocaire College Technology Institute Career Reboot Program – $674,162
- New Hope Innovative Career Center, Harvest House – $379,822
- Beginning Farmer Training Program, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Niagara County – $250,088
- Advancement Training for Healthcare Occupations (ATHOS): A Rural Innovative Training Opportunity, WNY Rural Area Health Education Center Inc. – $150,000
Governor Cuomo said:
“These awards will provide people with the training and skills they need to compete in today’s fast-growing industries and help New York build back better. The state’s workforce must adapt in order to take advantage of the rapidly changing economy and our Workforce Development Challenge is giving Western New Yorker’s the edge they need to succeed.”
Union Officials Charged With Racketeering, Fraud, And Bribery Offenses
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the Suffolk County District Attorney indicted James Cahill, president of the NYS Building & Construction Trades Council, along with 10 others for allegedly accepting dozens of bribes to corruptly influence the construction industry at the expense of labor unions and their members. The defendants have been charged with racketeering, fraud, and bribery offenses.
Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini said:
“As alleged in today’s indictment, these union officials – who purported to be the ones looking out for workers and their rights – were in fact engaged in an enterprise of corruption at the expense of the hardworking men and women they claimed to represent. This was a complete betrayal of these unions and their membership. Our two-year wiretap investigation uncovered a shocking level of greed and corruption, and the investigation is very much ongoing. I want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for partnering with my office on this investigation and for working with us to hold these alleged bad actors accountable in federal court.”
Rochester Mayor Indicted
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren was indicted today for campaign finance violations connected to her 2017 re-election campaign. The Mayor is charged with class E felonies including scheme to defraud in the first degree, and violation of election law section 14-126(6). Allegations suggest the Mayor used her Political Action Committee to circumvent contribution limits. The Mayor has denied wrongdoing and attributed the issue to a clerical error.
Political Updates
Absentee ballot issues in Brooklyn causes concern, New York Times Editorial Board urges in-person voting.
State Senator Zellnor Myrie urges in-person voting.
Katko/Balter agree to three debates.
Rochester Mayor names new chief of staff.
Andrew Yang joins Democratic Senate Candidate Jeremy Cooney for a fund raising event.
Reminder and Links
City & State NY’s Weekly Winners and Losers here.
New sick leave law takes effect.
New York courts deny recertification to 46 judges.
Business leaders say second shutdown likely to cause permanent closures.
Coming Up
The Senate will hold a public hearing on access to capital for small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic on October 14.
The Public Service Commission will hold its next meeting on October 15.
The Board of Regents will hold their next meeting on October 19 and 20.
The Assembly will hold a public hearing on the Department of Transportation Capital Program on October 23.
JCOPE will hold its next meeting on October 27.