Plugged In @ Hinman Straub

July 9, 2021

What’s Inside

  • Governor Declares New State of Emergency
  • Eric Adams Declared Winner of New York City Mayoral Primary
  • Department of Labor Releases Model Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan
  • Attorney General Announces Settlement with Purdue Pharma
  • Governor Signs Legislation to Extend Use of Sidewalks for Outdoor Dining
  • Governor Cuomo’s Term Ends as Chair of National Governor’s Association
  • Political Updates
  • Reminders and Links
  • Coming Up

Governor Declares New State of Emergency

The Governor declared a new state of emergency this week, targeting the rise in gun violence across the state. To coordinate the effort, the Governor announced the creation of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention. The Governor will also require, by Executive Order, major police departments to share incident-level data on gun violence with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. The data will be used by the new Office of Gun Violence Prevention to track emerging gun violence hotspots and deploy resources to those areas that need it most.

The effort includes a $138.7 million investment, allocated in the last budget, for intervention and prevention programs, including programs that engage at-risk youth in summer job opportunities and community activity programs, and supports ongoing gun violence prevention programs. The Governor also announced the creation of a new State Police Gun Trafficking Interdiction Unit to prevent the illegal guns that come into New York from other states. The Executive Order suspends various State Finance Law provisions regarding procurement, allowing the Governor greater flexibility in awarding the funds allocated in the budget.

Governor Cuomo said:

“We’re building New York back better than ever before, but part of rebuilding is addressing the systemic injustices that were exposed by COVID. If you look at the recent numbers, more people are now dying from gun violence and crime than COVID – this is a national problem but someone has to step up and address this problem because our future depends on it. Just like we did with COVID, New York is going to lead the nation once again with a comprehensive approach to combating and preventing gun violence, and our first step is acknowledging the problem with a first-in-the-nation disaster emergency on gun violence. When we see an injustice we don’t look the other way, we stand up and fight it because that’s the New York way.”

Eric Adams Declared Winner of New York City Mayoral Primary

After some confusion in the immediate aftermath of the city’s first ranked-choice election and the counting of absentee ballots, Eric Adams was declared the winner of the Democratic primary for mayor. Adams will be the prohibitive favorite for election in November when he will face Republican primary winner Curtis Sliwa in the general election. The City Board of Elections came under fire for inadvertently including dead ballots from a trial run with the preliminary results of the ranked voting numbers, ballooning the total by 135,000 votes. The error was identified and corrected by the board the following day, but, the confusion has already led to calls for the change in structure of the Board and public hearings to be conducted by the State Senate. Adams is a former State Senator, Brooklyn Borough President, and police officer.

Adams said:

“While there are still some very small amounts of votes to be counted, the results are clear: an historic, diverse, five-borough coalition led by working-class New Yorkers has led us to victory in the Democratic primary for Mayor of New York City. Now we must focus on winning in November so that we can deliver on the promise of this great city for those who are struggling, who are underserved, and who are committed to a safe, fair, affordable future for all New Yorkers.”

Department of Labor Releases Model Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan

The New York State Department of Labor (DOL) released the Model Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan as required under the NYS HERO act which took effect on July 4. Employers are required to adopt the model plan, or their own plan that meets or exceeds the standards set by the model plan, within 30 days. Although employers must adopt a plan, because the state of emergency has been lifted, plans do not need to be implemented unless and until an airborne infectious disease is designated by the Commissioner of Health as a highly contagious communicable disease that presents a serious risk of harm to the public health. The DOL also released the Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Standard as well as industry specific templates which includes plans for agriculture, construction, delivery services, domestic workers, emergency response, food service, manufacturing and industry, personal services, private education, private transportation and retail.

Attorney General Announces Settlement with Purdue Pharma

The Attorney General announced a $4.5 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma over the company’s role in falsely marketing its opioid products. The owners of Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family, will be required to pay $4.5 billion over the next nine years, with New York State expected to receive at least $200 million. Funding from the settlement will be used to fund prevention, treatment and recovery programs across the country. Individual victims will also receive compensation as part of Purdue’s bankruptcy process. Additionally, the settlement requires the Sackler family to relinquish control of family foundations to the trustees of a contemplated National Opioid Abatement Trust dedicated to abating the opioid crisis. If approved by the Bankruptcy Court, the settlement would also resolve DFS’s bankruptcy claim against Purdue.

Attorney General James said:

“For nearly two years, since Purdue Pharma declared bankruptcy, the company and the Sackler family have used every delay tactic possible and misused the courts — all in an effort to shield their misconduct. While this deal is not perfect, we are delivering $4.5 billion into communities ravaged by opioids on an accelerated timetable and it gets one of the nation’s most harmful drug dealers out of the opioid business, once and for all. We’ll be able to more quickly invest these funds in prevention, education, and treatment programs, and put an end to the delays and legal maneuvering that could possibly continue for years and across multiple continents. While no amount of money will ever compensate for the thousands who lost their lives or became addicted to opioids across our state or provide solace to the countless families torn apart by this crisis, these funds will be used to prevent any future devastation.”

Governor Signs Legislation to Extend Use of Sidewalks for Outdoor Dining

The Governor signed legislation (S.6353-A/A.7733) that will allow restaurants to utilize municipal spaces like sidewalks and streets for outdoor dining. First granted under an executive order by the Governor, this law allows restaurants to continue using these public spaces for another year as they recover from the economic devastation brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. With the expiration of the declared Disaster Emergency, old executive orders must be codified by the Legislature to continue in effect or rely on other existing regulatory power of a state agency. In this case, the legislation was necessary to allow the state Liquor Authority the discretion to continue the use of this space without prior approval.

The Governor said:

“As we build New York back better than it was before, it’s important that we learn from the past and capitalize on those efforts that helped so many of New York’s small businesses survive amid the global pandemic. By extending the much-needed lifeline that allowed restaurants to use outdoor public spaces for seating during the pandemic, New York is ensuring that these small businesses will be able to continue to use these spaces as they work to rebuild and support the revitalization of the Empire State.”

Governor Cuomo’s Term Ends as Chair of National Governor’s Association

Governor Cuomo’s term as Chair of the National Governor’s Association has come to an end. The Governor took over last year upon the expiration of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s term. Governor Cuomo will be succeeded by Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas.

In his final address as Chair, Governor Cuomo concluded by saying:

“I thank all of you. I thank you for all the conversations. I thank you for sharing all the stories. I thank you for the emotion. I thank you for the support. These were hard days for us to go through and I found a lot of support in my colleague governors who, in essence, were in that same unique position. Very few people were going through what we went through and we went through it together. Speaking for myself, it was a tremendous personal benefit. Governors have a new credibility. Governors have a new status. Let us use it well and let us use it to do well. Thank you all very much.”

Political Updates

Times Union Editorial: A stunt of emergency here.

The summer read everyone’s waiting for: The Tish James report.

Inspector General declines call to reopen Cuomo leak case.

Jumaane Williams’ upstate trips spur talk of challenge to Gov. Cuomo.

With primaries over, the race for NYC Council speaker takes center stage.

Times Union: Zeldin pushes to ‘save New York‘ and pull away from Trump.

Should NY governor and other state elected officials have term limits?

NYS GOP is hosting a fundraiser with former President Donald Trump.

What India Walton and Byron Brown need to do to win race for Buffalo mayor.

Stefanik draws two more challengers.

Reminders and Links

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

Liz Krueger discusses JCOPE reform and fixing the New York City Board of Elections.

Senator Parker discusses the Climate and Community Investment Act.

Assembly majority leader gives update on Office of Cannabis Management nominations.

Coming Up

The Senate will hold a public hearing on New York State’s system of ethics oversight and enforcement on July 12.

The Board of Regents will hold their next meeting on July 12 and 13.

The Public Service Commission will hold its next meeting on July 15.

The Assembly will hold a public hearing on ranked-choice voting in New York City on July 19.

The Senate will hold a public hearing on nursing home and assisted living workforce on July 20.

The Senate will hold a public hearing on homecare workforce challenges and solutions on July 27.

JCOPE will hold its next meeting on July 27.