Barclay: Assembly Democrats Prefer To Take Cover Rather Than Take Action

Statement from Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay, February 23 evening

“For the second straight day, the Assembly Majority avoided taking any action to end Gov. Cuomo’s emergency powers. Despite a Democrat-led effort last week encouraging support for repealing the executive’s authority, the Majority now appears to be content with the status quo.

On Monday, Assembly Republicans attached an amendment ending the governor’s powers to a pair of bills. One was skipped on the calendar. The other was laid aside.

On Tuesday, Republicans attached the same amendment once again. Democrats responded by bringing only one bill to the floor and ending proceedings within an hour.

When it comes to restoring the Legislature as a co-equal branch of government, the Majority appears to be moving from reluctance to outright refusal. Ending the unilateral authority of the governor simply returns New York state to the representative democracy it was always intended to be.

It is astonishing that even today – with the governor’s office embroiled in cover-ups, credibility issues and criminal investigations – Assembly Democrats prefer to take cover rather than take action.”

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