BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) As the statewide mask mandate is being sorted out by an Appellate court, a New York State Senator says the state legislature should have a say.
"Send it to the Senate. Send it to the Assembly. Let us vote on it" says Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt (R-Lockport) on WBEN Wednesday. "I don't know why Governor Kathy Hochul is so afraid to send it to us, if it's the right policy, rather than continue to fight it in the courts."
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There was confusion when a Nassau County Supreme Court judge on Monday voided the New York State mask mandate set by the governor, deeming it unconstitutional, as it was "improperly enacted without approval from the state Legislature."
An Appellate court judge has since issued a stay until at least Friday when arguments will be heard in the case.
"The legislature should have a say in policy like this that impacts our students, our businesses, and every aspect of our life in this pandemic. It frustrates people that their elected representatives in Albany have not participated in debate, discussion or taken any vote on the [mask] policy," said Ortt.
Asked how a vote would potentially play out? "It would be a significant vote," said Ortt. "My colleagues across the aisle have wanted no part in any of these decisions. They have been very comfortable letting one person make all of the decisions, whether it was Governor Cuomo or Governor Hochul."
Ortt says his democratic colleagues know the decisions are largely unpopular and have been harmful for business, schools and students. He doesn't believe they want to vote, but if it came to it, he said it would be very interesting to see which legislators were in favor of continuing to mask students, and mask patrons at businesses. "I think there would be a lot of democrats who would be hesitant to vote for this. There's no reason the legislature should be left out of these decisions," he added.
Where does it end? Ortt says in the beginning of the pandemic there were clear goals. Then the goals were moved. Now, he says nobody even mentions the metrics for the off ramp.
Since March of 2020, when Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz declared a state of emergency, the county Legislature gave him the authority to make Covid-related decisions without its approval.
The County Executive's emergency authority comes from the New York State public officers' law. Removal of the authority can only come from the state legislature.
"There's certainly an appetite from Western New York legislators to vote on it," said Ortt. "To me, it's unimaginable that he is the only county executive with emergency powers. We are not in an emergency." He thinks this is being used to justify powers that otherwise would be untenable.
"There was a time when I thought we were in an emergency, back in March of 2020" said Ortt. "Now, while we continue to deal with the virus, we're not in a state of an emergency." He says there is no reason why one county executive continues to reign over the county without proper checks and balances.
